It's OK if done properly. It's insane if done recklessly.
I've seen plenty of both examples.

It's esp. helpful for protecting your bike from rear-end collisions at intersections. Just use lane splitting to work your way up between rows of stationary cars behind a red light.

Also very effective on freeways where there are painted "stay out" zones between neighboring lanes (typically between OHV lane and next lane over). You can easily ride your bike down the painted zone.

Lane splitting requires good judgment. But there is no room for error.

dT

 

It's madness not to allow it. Especially at lights, not being able to filter to the front of the light is beyond stupid.... The cars are stopped (or possibly creeping forward, but next to no lane changes) the bikes accelerate significantly faster than any of the cars (so therefore don't hold up any cars) and you're safe from the dreaded stoplight rear-ender. Filtering while moving has a similar safety benefit as well as reducing congestion.

I'm going to dread going back stateside when it's August in 'WhereEverIEndUp' USA and I'm sitting there at a stoplight baking for no good reason other than 'it's the law'. From the German Autobahn to streets in Florence Italy (two dramatically different riding environments) filtering has helped me get around faster, with no added risk all while lightening the load on the road. It's a good thing.

Of course here cars generally part for you as you are splitting. In the states they'd most likely close in on you so you wouldn't 'cut'. I think the car part of the equation would be the hard part in legalizing filtering stateside, not the cycle part.

 

The guy lies about the Hurt report. The most common accident in the report is not a rear-ender. It's the left-turner by a large margin. Rear-end accidents, while they can be harmful, are fairly rare.

The most frequent accident configuration is the motorcycle proceeding straight then the automobile makes a left turn in front of the oncoming motorcycle.

 

About 6% of accidents are motorcycles being struck from the rear.

When moving between lanes of stopped cars at an intersection the proper term is "filtering"...like liquids through gravel.

Also remembering that bikes do accelerate well that can mean you are the first into an intersection and, if you aren't in the game, being struck broadside by someone trying run the light late.

 

I cant believe 49 state do not allow lane splitting.... WHAT?!?!?!? Do people in other states really sit behind a car knowing he cant lane split? Total BS.

 

<sigh> Yes.

 

i dont see how this is safe in any way...... it seems reckless and says you think your bettor that the other types of vehicles on there road.....and that's part of there reason that some drivers hate motorcyclist.... your just making things worse for the rest of us.

 

yup....some idiot tried blocking me from lane splitting in his truck in rush hour traffic. I was able to make my way through, and gave the side of his shiny black truck a nice kick with my boot.

 

Lane splitting can be done safely if it's done in a safe manner. Passing between slower traffic at triple digits will get a rider hurt quickly. Filtering through at stop lights or in slow-moving congestion clears up room on the road for larger vehicles.

While not technically legal anywhere in the US, California has no law specific law against it and allows it if done in a safe manner.

 

Just a nit to pick, but our system of government provides a system of laws that are restrictive, not permissive. There is no technically here. If there is no law against it, it is legal.

All laws do is provide punishment for actions deemed unsafe or harmful to individuals or society as a whole.

The distinction is small, but important.

 

"It's madness not to allow it. Especially at lights, not being able to filter to the front of the light is beyond stupid"

I agree with that comment. Even if state regulators don't want MC's to do lane splitting while the traffic is moving ... it should be legal when cars are stopped at a red light. It significantly adds to safety in that situation. The problem here is a basic ignorance about the motorcycle world.

dT

 

As has been said, lane splitting, or filtering is perfectly safe provided it is done in a sensible manor, with due consideration and good observation skills.

 

Not quite true. It's almost safe. While I was in Cali and "filtered", I had several people suddenly move left or right and had a few open their door. Seems even if it wasn't illegal some people just can't stand someone getting in front of them. Now THAT's stupid.

 

Not quite true. It's almost safe. [/B].

Well yeah but everything "almost" safe.
Riding a bike is never 100% safe.
You just take all the precautions you can to make it as safe as you can.

 

Totally unsafe in my neck of the woods. Being first through a light is
Russian roulette, and people get pissed off if they think you got over
on them.

 

Also from Massachusetts and totally agree. Even with light delays the number of people running red lights around here is astounding. While I think filtering should be legal, I'm not dropping the clutch as soon as it turns green.

 

I would love to try it, but those lanes would have to be pretty wide to allow my Ultra enough room to filter through.

 

the idea of getting to the front of the line at a stoplight works really well here in CA. Yeah ... we do have the same problem that folks going across the intersection will sometimes run a red light. you just gotta' watch for that.

but this system basically allows you to pull ahead of all the traffic in your lane - as soon as the light goes green. it means that bikes are riding free and clear on open roads - in the middle of the city. it's one of the best tricks to improve safety that I know ... for city riding.

dT

 

I witnessed a "blocking" incident in lane splitting on I80 in jersey. Almost caused the rider to dump. I think it's a great thing for rush hour traffic, I'm a bit iffy because of *******s like that though.

 

Right on queue, the LA Times has this article about filtering/lane splitting. Be sure to read the comments after the article. They give a good perspective on what CA non-riders think about it.

I would argue that I am serving all commuters — and consequently all society — by using the pavement that automobiles can't. I'm subtracting one 4,000-pound box from the endless line of boxes keeping each other from getting where they are going.

The small price in psychic discomfort less fortunate four-wheeled commuters pay for my service could easily be palliated by a road trip to say, Paris, where the culture of the super freeway has evolved to afford the motorcycle an exalted place.

On Boulevard Périphérique, the perpetually gridlocked 22-mile loop that circumnavigates the city, motorcycles own the space between the number one and number two lanes. If my sudden appearance in your mirror rattles you, you have no idea how panicked you'd feel on seeing a phalanx of 20 or 30 Ducatis, BMWs, Yamahas and Hondas charging from the rear at twice your speed. So many commuters ride rather than drive that they create their own traffic pattern, bunching up in formations that whoosh by slower moving cars every 30 seconds or so.

 

I've used shoulders on gridlocked highways on the GSP in NJ while riding down to the shore. Heard there was an old grandfathered law in that not many know about. Where as a motorcyclist in hot weather is allowed to use shoulder to bypass stalled traffic. Mainly this was supposely for aircooled bikes only, as the heat that comes from non water cooled bikes in summer gets very uncomfortable to sit in in stalled traffic.

I travel at no more then 25-30 mph on the shoulder provided it is wide enough, and there is no debris lurking on it. I'm not totally sure it is legal this old law, so don't quote me on it.

As for going in between the traffic on a big bore cruiser, it is not as simple as a sport bike, of a much smaller cruiser. At 8' long and 2' wide it seems a little too close for comfort depending on the gap. I don't worry about someone trying to lane change in stand still traffic as there is nowhere for them to go realistically unless someone on other side is going to let them in (which in NJ is rare). However it is illegal to lane split in NJ, but I'm not concerned in stand still traffic if say a cop seen me and he is stuck in traffic and has nowhere to go as in come after me to pull me over.

If you do decided to do it, and if you see a police cruiser spotting you cna attemtping to come after you, remember tractor trailers make great hiding spaces when you pace them on the right plane as the police cruiser passes. Most police have instinct that the motorcyclist will travel as far and fast away from traffic and they always go for the left lane at fastest speed they can travel to catch up and try to find you after they seen you do something wrong.

A moving tractor trailer is like a huge wall to hide along side and as the cop passes you slow down and drop behind the tractor trailer for more concealment.

 

Ahhh...the air cooled" law...often spoken of, never found...




The Nessie of motorcycle myths....