Then you talked to a different CHP officer than I did. I was told by the CHP that lane sharing is legal provided that it is not done at excessive speed (the officer mentioned 10 mph above traffic speed), the motorcyclist does not exceed the speed limit, and the motorcyclist not use either the right or the left shoulder. Also, the article I mentioned said nothing about it being illegal (I remember I was looking specifically for that).
Here is a link that says the same thing from the CHP website.
That means three feet between two cars. Perhaps lanes are wider in some areas, or cars are smaller, but it’s not unusual that there is a four-foot gap.
It’s not your responsibility to make sure there is enough room for the bike to get through. (Although we appreciate it when people move over a little and we usually give a wave of thanks.) It’s entirely up to the rider to judge if there is enough room. If contact is made, it’s the rider’s fault (unless the driver moves over on purpose and the rider can’t avoid it). If I’m driving and I see a rider coming (I’m one of those people who uses mirrors and looks around when I drive) I’ll move over; but it’s the rider’s responsibility to make sure there’s enough room.
Really, I’d rather this thread not turn into a Great Debate or IMHO. Just looking for information.
No offense intended here, Johnny, but since your maneouver (that cannot be spelled right!) seems to be illegal in most states, feel free to take your chances. Most people rank “lane sharing” with tailgating and failure to signal turns (which seems to be universal).
You’re right. Manoeuvre is a prick of a word and I blame the French as with everything else. They do, however, make nice bicycles. Just Look at these!
OTOH, I doubt lanesplitting is ranked down with the other practices you mentioned by most other people. People take umbrage at those because they are both dangerous and aggressive in the case of tailgating. Your problem with lanesplitting is simple jealousy.
Ask a motorcyclist nicely and one of them might take you for a spin. It will do you good and make you less sour about things, especially bikes.
The only time I’ve been yelled at was from a guy with Colorado plates. I pulled over since traffic was stopped and he said “straddling” was illegal. I didn’t point out to him that it’s rather difficult to “straddle” when you’re on a single-track vehicle, but I did point out to him that it’s not illegal in California. As for “most people”, did you take a poll? I’ve found that a large number of people move over to give riders a little more room. As I said, it’s easier on everyone to just let the rider pass. The rider will get by you anyway, and you’re less likely to burst a blood vessel. If you don’t like to sit in traffic, buy a motorcycle (if your state allows lane sharing).
Okay, so we have California and Texas. Where else?
I’ve been on motorcycles, it ain’t jealousy, lemme tell ya!
It’s more perceived arrogance of bikers.
FTR, I don’t encounter a lot of bikers here in Savannah. Not to say that they don’t exist, but they are few and far between. True most people will let you by, but enough people won’t and will try to squeeze you in. Not a chance I want to take.
Actually it isn’t really leagle in CA either. From the Mailing lists that I’m on, that includes a number of biker cops and riders in CA, you are allowed to “share” a lane, which means two people can be in the same lane at the same time. I’ve also been informed that you can get a ticket for actaully going back and forth between lanes.
I’d like a cite that says it’s legal in Texas as I’ve never heard this before. I’ve only ever heard it’s tolarated in CA.
I do know one place you DON’T want to do it and that’s Virginia, I’ve heard horror stories of people trying it there and getting big tickets. That and you’re not supposed to even sit alond side one another at a traffic light. I’d like to be able to do it here in Maryland.
This is because the drivers are afraid that you’re going to come flying up, get blown a bit by wind and slam into their car…not because they’re nice. Well, some people might just be nice. While it might be your fault if you hit me, I still have to go to the body shop and get my car fixed, and often the car is never quite the same after an accident. I don’t want or need the hassle of a traffic investigation, car repair, and possible biker death just because you want to save 4 seconds over waiting for the rest of traffic to get over to the slower lane.
If you decide to come up to Canada, don’t think about lane splitting here.
That being said, I have been known to drive between parked cars and gridlocked traffic-- but only if traffic is so stuck that you can’t move a car length in 60 seconds.
Actually “straddling” the lanes in Ca. is illegal. Riding along that dotted white line with both wheels you are straddling both lanes. But, on the other hand when you are splitting lanes on a bike you usually don’t just ride down that white line. You tend to weave back and forth slightly from lane to lane depending on the position of the vehicles. And now this becomes lane “sharing”. Which is legal. But, must be done in a prudent fashion.
I used to split lanes in the LA area all the time. But, usually only when the traffic was under 15 mph or dead stop. And my speed was usually just barely over the other vehicles. And I have been bumped by cars and blocked many times.
And for those of you who get jealous, I do when I’m in a car, you’re in traffic. Everybody is not trying to get to the same place. It’s not like everybody is in line to get tickets and somebody jumps in line at the front.
The question is where the practice is legal. Let’s stick to that. The questions of whether it’s fair or unfair, rude or not rude, stupid or not stupid, are grist for different forums than GQ.
Hey, it’s not like the CVC isn’t online and searchable or anything. I think everyone’s in agreement that this practice is not hindered by any officers in authority ( so it’s not illegal in practice, even under a generic ‘reckless driving’ infringement). So if you want to claim it’s illegal, find the specific law that isn’t being enforced.
Furthermore, I found this :
27803 is the helmet law (that’s a whole different issue). but here’s subdivision (f) :
Now, if in fact lane splitting were illegal for motorcycles, why is there only prohibition for the subdivision-(f) vehicles? Furthermore, there is an explicit statement (21655.5b) that motorcycles may use HOV lanes, which are prohibited for the tricycles, so this section could not apply to them.
I’m glad to see motorcycles be able to take advantage of their, well, advantages in traffic. I don’t ride except for bicycles, so I do have a feel for what it’s like to be right next to a car, and I don’t find it a problem.
It’s not a problem as the lane-splitting is limited to crowded, slow-moving traffic, and the motorcyclist isn’t weaving around cars just for the heck of it or recklessly speeding (all of which are likely to get them pulled over anyway).
I am sure that the instructor in my Motorcycle Safety course a few years ago stated that lane splitting was legal. I have now looked for a cite and can find nothing to back this up. So unless someone has some additional information, I withdraw my assertion that lane splitting is legal in Texas.
rsa: I did a quick search on google and found this site. The author wrote a letter to the Texas Department of Public Safety and received this reply:
I take exception to the sentence “In similar fashion with California, lane splitting in Texas is neither legal nor illegal.” The California Highway Patrol site I linked to earlier specifically says that lane sharing is permitted. Nevertheless, Mr. Burdette indicates that it is acceptable in Texas to share lanes.
However the page also contains responses from other Texas law enforcement agencies, and they all say that lane sharing is illegal in Texas. So although it is not specifically prohibited by Texas law, in practice it may not be done.
Surely California can’t be the only state where this is allowed?
I was looking for a bit of statute to back up Johnny LA, when I found this curious entry (bolding is mine):
I was a bit taken back at first. This appears to directly clash with the CHP cite above (which is a .gov cite, which I’d assume is credible)
But it got weird when I looked up § 27803 (f). Turns out it is a helmet law. I’ll paste the whole thing below rather than just (f) so you can see it in context. Why does §21714, titled about motorcycles, point to an exception to the general helmet law and preclude them from lane sharing/ straddling? Anyone want to make sense out of it? Seems to mean that only very specific three-wheelers that are exempt from helmet laws can’t share lanes. But if one can read that into it, than one could say that it is OK for regular cars to share lanes as well. Thoughts?
… but again, this is not directly answering the OP - where can you do it. If I have time in a bit I’ll continue the search from earlier and at least let you know where you definately can’t and help with process of elimination.
Ride Safe!!!
Rhythmdvl
Who never straddles a lane, but will not let his air-cooled engine suffer in a traffic jam. And who maybe moves up front during long lights. But only safely.
By the way, just to help narrow the search a bit – here is a list of 31 states (and Puerto Rico thrown in as well) that explicitly do not allow lane sharing. If anyone wants I can pull the exact text from the statute, but didn’t want to do it 32 times. Note – just because I didn’t find a reference in the 19 other states doesn’t mean it is not there- just that my cursory search (via Westlaw) didn’t find it.
Alabama
Arizona
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New York
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Wyoming
Ride Safe!
Do they? I’m not trying to say differently but I could swear that when I got my motorcycle license that the exact oppisite was true. But that was a long time ago.
Just thought I would join in this discusion. I don’t know if it’s legal or not in the UK but I do not know any biker who has been arrested or ticketed for doing it. Plus when stuck in a traffic jam I always keep an eye on what’s going on behind me. If a biker is coming then I move a bit to give more room then once every so often I get a little wave to say thanks. Makes me feel good inside helping out
It’s similar in the Netherlands, with the caveat that Dutch motorists are terribly righteous when it comes to showing you what the law is really like. In other words: you get blocked a lot. But hey, I’m wearing a helmet, and they’re not - you’d be surprised how scared people actually are when an annoyed biker pulls up alongside and gives a quick rap on the window.
On the other hand, they’re in a metal cage and you’re not!
My sister has a 1962 Harley Davidson FLH chopper that she got from her ex-b/f. It has “straight pipes” (no muffler – gawd, I hate Harleys that have no muffler!) and when people would annoy him he’d pull up beside them and cause the engine to backfire. It’s like a shotgun going off!
By the way, I hate unmuffled Harleys period. When one pulls up beside me the sound hits my ear and – this is no joke – my vision “flutters” in time with the pressure waves. It’s extremely uncomfortable, and having a closed window doesn’t help. The same thing happens to a lesser degree when I put a telephone handset close to my ear and the ringer is especially loud.
As far as people blocking motorcycles, I just look for another way around.
Rhythmdvl: I tried going to westlaw.com, but it required a password so I didn’t get in. I see Texas isn’t in the list. It seems from the other site I recently linked that Texas law doesn’t specifically say lane sharing is illegal, but law enforcement there seems to be of the opinion that “if it doesn’t say you can do it, then you can’t”.
Thanks, bibliophage. I’ve started a new thread in IMHO so people can post their opinions.
Please let’s use this thread to answer the OP. Thanks.
