Lane Slitting, Do or Dont, Wish you could

[cqyqte]

Cool, fabricating, fabricating ah aha aha hah

 

[SONICJK]

The problem here with lane splitting is it pisses people off because they are too competitive.

I don't know about you guys but I get mad when I pull over into the slow lane when there's roadwork that says "lane ends in 1/2 mile" and then some jackass just goes allllllll the way down and merges at the last second. Or some douche flys up the shoulder and passes everyone.
People (I don't) feel the same way about motorcycles it's sort of a "fuck you you can't pass me" thing.

And also compared to Europe there are NO bikes on the road in the US and inattentianal blindness is rampant because people literally don't expect to see bikes, and when you don't expect to see it you actually don't see it.

 

[notlob]

Its definitely a cultural thing. I couldn't imagine not doing it and must have been lucky not to get caught in Germany. I couldn't sit and wait in a line of traffic knowing there was plenty of room to safely get through it, think I'd give up riding and join everyone in their boxes.

I can imagine it would be difficult and dangerous to introduce somewhere new.

Although bad driving habits which exist here as well, that should be a concern addressed by the relevant authority whether it be driving tests or training. Those drivers arre a danger to all road users.
Competitive nature as manifested in driving habits exists everywhere but seems to be above the norm from what I hear in the US, where drivers will intentionally put their car in your way in a deliberate attempt to harm you. In a childish if I cant do it, I'll damn well make sure you cant attitude. Although I have driven a car in Florida about 8 years ago and cant remember anything particularly bad.

 

[buzznichols]

When I lived in California, I was always struck by the young guys on superbikes who would split lanes at audacious speeds when traffic was stopped. I always pictured what would happen if somebody had opened a car door to get out and pee.

 

[Tim]

I'd hope the rider would splatter the moron who got out to piss on the road

 

[noexit]

Now being able to make a left hand turn at a red light after a complete stop would be great. Unfortunately it did not pass the state legislature last year.

Are you in the UK, or am I reading this wrong. That would be hell for motorcyclists. Cars making a left turn in front of a motorcycle is one of the most common causes of motorcycle mortality. I would not support that. Right had turn after a stop at a red is legal in Washington State. I assumed it was everywhere.

 

[spotty]

a few years ago here in victoria australia there was a push to make splitting illegal, rumour had it because some politician got pissed off with bikes going past his chauffer driven car when he was stuck in traffic every morning, and as far as i know the law was passed.

made not a bit of difference, still goes on though people tend not to do it when theres a bike cop visible, we generally don't worry about them in cars cos they're stuck in traffic like the rest of the cars and you'll be past them before they get your number

 

[Toast]

Living in California and being able to split, it makes me INCREDIBLY nervous when I'm in a spot where there isn't room to split. It's so much safer having an avenue of escape at all times; being a sitting duck between two 3,500lb vehicles just waiting to get smashed is not a good feeling. I'm very glad I have the option (space allowing) to filter to the front, I get away from the dangers of the other cars and the cage drivers have to wait for one less vehicle. Everyone wins.

I was commuting to work in the Bay Area before I tore my bike down, tons of traffic on the freeway, high speeds with sudden stops and lots of people not paying attention. Still it is much safer being able to get around them and on my way. After a while you can start to read and predict what other drivers are going to do, and if you do a few things when splitting you'll get where you're gonna go safely.

* Keep the speed delta low, try not to go more then 10mph faster then the cars you're splitting past

* Gaps in slow traffic should be treated with extreme caution, assume someone is going to dive into it... They usually do. Anticipate this and slow down.

* Cover the clutch and brake when splitting, it'll cut down your reaction time and you'll be less likely to grab too much brake by accident. Also stay in the power band, sometimes you need to get out of the way quick.

* DO NOT SPLIT AS SOON AS TRAFFIC SLOWS!! Get closer to the center line but do not split past the column of cars as soon as it slows a lot... ever! This is when people in a hurry love to dart into the free lane without looking.




If you do it reasonably and with caution then it's safer and faster for everyone. I'm glad it's finally been officially approved here in CA.

 

[Sonreir]

I lived a number of years in both California and the UK. Lane splitting just makes sense.
Yeah, you gotta be careful and aware of your surroundings, but you're on a bike; you're doing that anyway, right?

 

[lingo]

Are you in the UK, or am I reading this wrong. That would be hell for motorcyclists. Cars making a left turn in front of a motorcycle is one of the most common causes of motorcycle mortality. I would not support that. Right had turn after a stop at a red is legal in Washington State. I assumed it was everywhere.

I am in GA. They debated a law in GA last year that motorcycles could make a left turn on a red light after a complete stop. Because the traffic signals weren't sensitive enough to pick up the weight of a bike. I have sat at lights for 10 min plus waiting for a car to pull up behind me to trigger the light. It is too cost prohibitive to retro fit the the traffic signals. So it would of been up to the rider to make the decision to turn left on red.

 

[Toast]

Do they use those inductive sensors there? If so, there are ways to trip them. It's really easy on an old steel framed UJM.

http://www.wikihow.com/Trigger-Green-Traffic-Lights

 

[canyoncarver]

The problem here with lane splitting is it pisses people off because they are too competitive.

I don't know about you guys but I get mad when I pull over into the slow lane when there's roadwork that says "lane ends in 1/2 mile" and then some jackass just goes allllllll the way down and merges at the last second. Or some douche flys up the shoulder and passes everyone.
People (I don't) feel the same way about motorcycles it's sort of a "fuck you you can't pass me" thing.

And also compared to Europe there are NO bikes on the road in the US and inattentianal blindness is rampant because people literally don't expect to see bikes, and when you don't expect to see it you actually don't see it.

I'd split if it were legal but I think Sonic hits the nail on the head for most of the US. People that speed up when you go to pass them, etc..... Our culture is more like "if I have to wait, so do you". Once in awhile I'll filter to the front at a light it there are no cops in sight and yes, I do feel safer from rear enders but not from some cage with road rage that I got ahead of him... just sucks....we'd need some kind of media campaign to increase driver awareness and acceptance. Hell, it would probably boost motorcycle sales in the process! As for those "effers" that fly past everybody narrowing down a lane, I don't mind when bikes do it but cars just piss me off.

 

[SONICJK]

We need a media campaign to increase motorcycle awareness in general.

A good positive government spin would really help everyone out.

greatly reduced emissions
safer for riders to have drivers aware
Safer roads with educated people on them
reduced motorcycle fatalities
etc

I think that the US needs to really push toward using small displacement motorcycles.
I really like that in the bigger cities people are starting to really embrace mopeds, although i hate mopeds.

 

[taggat]

I did my first lane split this past summer on the highway.
Lead driver in the hammer lane was doing 65mph (70mph posted speed limit) along with the truck in the other lane that was doing the posted speed limit.
I noticed after five minutes the amount of traffic building up behind me, which made me nervous.
Three cars back from open road freedom awh screw it roll the throttle.
Why must barbie be on her phone texting while driving her hummer I have no idea.
She got the bird and away I went.

12 speedmaster

 

[lingo]

With the self-driving cars that they are experimenting with on the horizon, It will be a lot safer for motorcyclist. All cars will travel the same speed, use the correct lanes (with out serving between them), all cars will use their turn signals appropriately, etc... Then we can be the hooligans that we always wanted to be.

 

[canyoncarver]

With the self-driving cars that they are experimenting with on the horizon, It will be a lot safer for motorcyclist. All cars will travel the same speed, use the correct lanes (with out serving between them), all cars will use their turn signals appropriately, etc... Then we can be the hooligans that we always wanted to be.

I lol'd pretty hard on this one even though I understand you meant it somewhat jokingly. I don't think that day will come in our lifetimes that barbie can't touch the controls on her 8000 lb SUV and whip it over in front of me at the last second doing 20mph less than I'm going. When that day does come, the government will probably outlaw motorcycles because they will vary the equation too much for the damn robots driving everybody to work!

 

[Sonreir]

There does need to be more awareness about the merging scenario.

The proper merge technique is called a "zipper merge". Cars from each lane alternate merging. So when people get all pissed off at the one dude who "cuts into the line" by taking the empty lane, he's actually the guy doing it right. For best flow, traffic should make use of all lanes for as long as possible. Everyone piling into the left lane early (when the right lane is ending) is actually causing traffic to be worse.

 

[notlob]

There does need to be more awareness about the merging scenario.

The proper merge technique is called a "zipper merge". Cars from each lane alternate merging. So when people get all pissed off at the one dude who "cuts into the line" by taking the empty lane, he's actually the guy doing it right. For best flow, traffic should make use of all lanes for as long as possible. Everyone piling into the left lane early (when the right lane is ending) is actually causing traffic to be worse.

We had short lived campaign here with signs saying use both lanes and merge alternately. It was about 10 years ago after some traffic studies, found out it would cut queue times and it shortened the queues thus having less effect on other roads that joined or crossed the congested one.
Still it didn't stop the I know best I do 200000 miles a year wagon drivers, who blocked both lanes to stop people doing it.

It eventually died a death and I haven't seen the signs for years now.

 

[Sonreir]

Lol... I've had lorries do that to me on more than one occasion (when I was living in the UK). Too bad they didn't realize that I don't care about driving on the shoulder...

 

[Ringo]

I split when I lived in CA. It was great.

Here in Montana, we really don't have traffic, so no, I guess I don't wish I could.