Still not seeing the point in it, but okay.
Been to both. Remembering that I have hasn’t changed my mind.
As you mentioned in this thread, lane splitting is not legal in CA. I can’t read the entire article, but it starts with the premise “California is the only U.S. state where zipping between lanes of cars on a motorcycle is legal.”
The point with the article is that other states are considering allowing lane splitting.
My point is that if the author of the article doesn’t understand that AB-51 did not legalize lane splitting in CA, why should we believe he’s getting anything else regarding what the point of any other bills are, or if any bills are really on the way?
Well the article was published in The Wall Street Journal, so there are probably some true facts in it.
So you are saying that you never pass a slow moving vehicle (such as a large truck)? After all, that would place you in front of him at the next traffic light. Sounds like an equally douchey maneuver.
Presumably the motorcyclists that got ahead of him when the light turned green will also be filtering/splitting at the next red light; as before, they will not be taking up spaces occupied by cars, they will be in the lateral gaps between cars. Drivers who leave one green light with bikes shooting out ahead of them will arrive at the next red light just as far back from the intersection as they would be if the bikes never existed.
Presumably. Or maybe they will not want to keep risking breaking the law, especially if they’re now in a better patrolled area…or any of dozens of other possible reasons. Bottom line- it’s against the law, it startles other drivers to be riding that closely past them, and IMHO, douchey behavior.
I’m assuming, of course, that filtering or lane splitting is legal.
It’s basic traffic flow: the small vehicles take up less space, they accelerate faster, and they’re more maneuverable.
Filtering lets motorcycles take advantage of space that cars cannot use.
The only reason not to let them do so is because of a sense of entitlement.
Of course? Why would I take for granted that you’re assuming that when it’s not legal anywhere in the US? Why are you assuming something is legal when it’s not?
You’re ignoring drivers getting freaked out by having a motorcycle pass them just inches away and that you may end up in a line of vehicles behind them. You mean a sense of entitlement by the motorcyclists that are breaking the law and don’t care if they may be startling other drivers, right?
I live in Florida, there is no lane splitting, dont think my bike would fit well anyways, and i dont fancy being crushed between two cars, probably purposely.
I see people on sport bikes try it, even though it is 100% illegal here, more than occasionally the cars will try to crush them (or they just wander way too much) and i have seen a door or two open before.
Myself, i have kicked off a mirror before.
Because laying on the horn just wasn’t getting the morons attention.
He was making a good attempt at smearing me down the concrete barrier on a shoulderless stretch of road, i had no place else to go.
The damned car behind me wouldn’t back off and let me out, it kept charging up on my ass, the moron.
The guy trying to smear me whose mirror i kicked off, He rolls down the window screaming he needs to be in that lane.
Seriously? That bad you need to be in my lane, that you are going to kill me?
I have also had stupid retards blast by me, in my own damned lane, on their wanna be Ducatti sports bikes, some close enough i felt them clip my mirror.
If you want to kill yourself, leave me out of the equation.
I have been hit by cagers 3 times.
One i got the bike nearly vaporized out from under me, there was just nothing left of the back half.
“Oh i did not see him” was the excuse.
Did not see me? i was in a line of traffic at a red light where NO ONE was moving.
Perhaps she should not have head her head down in her cell phone
Cop did not even cite the driver, maybe he couldn’t since she did not have a US license
Second one, it was pouring down rain, i have to cross a really horribly maintains RR crossing that crosses the road at nearly 70 degrees. the steel decking is bent, lose, and has shifted over time to make huge gaps where the rails are.
The gaps are wider than my rear tire.
So i am slowing to a crawl so i can get the bike almost crosswise in my lane to cross the rails head on.
Idiot behind me has no patience for this, after laying on the horn guns it and nails the back end as he tries to go around me, bike goes down, i go down, my arm gets caught in the gaps in the steel decking with a steel pin shove through the bone of my elbow.
6 or 7 cars just drive around and passed and don’t even bother to stop.
Some old lady finally stops and is trying to get the bike off me, i cant help because my arm is literally pinned to the railroad crossing.
Stellar people those 6 or 7 that blew right on past.
3rd moron, another cell phone worshipper, made the mistake of locking up the brakes, so i heard her and i took off up the shoulder, but she still got close enough to hit the rear tire.
There was a motorcycle cop in the next lane, bad luck for her, she got enough cites to put her in bankruptcy court.
I don’t pass anyone, damned people in cars figure i don’t need any of the lane beside or behind me.
They ride right on my ass, they merge over right into my lane or pass me half in my lane because the speed limit isn’t fast enough for them, while they sit smuggly in 3000 to 6000 pounds of metal and plastic.
And the damned cyclekiddies aren’t any better, come ride in my lane or blast by me in my own lane, think the road is a motorsport complex and piss people off and then disappear at 130mph so they take it out on the bike that’s only going 65
Weisshund, here are some suggestions that might help. It may be better if you do pass people instead of riding with the flow of traffic, because if you ride with the flow of traffic, cars more frequently come up from behind. IME, motorcycles are especially harder to see in the lane ahead of a car driver — the motorcycle tends to get “lost” visually among the other cars ahead of it. Those cars ahead of the motorcycle present ‘visual noise’ that camouflages our motorcycles.
On motorcycles our helmets are often higher than drivers’ heads, and we can see ahead better than drivers can. We’re more maneuverable, so passing other cars is easier for us. Try to do it in a way that doesn’t startle the drivers.
When I ride in traffic, I’m sometimes more comfortable riding a little faster than the flow. This helps keep all of the action in front of me. I don’t have to monitor my mirrors as much (although I still do), and it minimizes the cars behind me that can harm me by keeping them away from me.
Additionally, defensively positioning our bikes within the lanes helps to deter cars from entering our lane. When I ride in traffic, I’m not always just left-of-center in my lane. Sometimes I’m right of center, and depending on the situation sometimes I am far to the left or far to the right. Try to present an impenetrable “wall” (visually) to the vehicles to our left or right. If for example a car is to my right and I’m riding left-of-center in my lane, to that driver it almost presents a visual invitation for them to enter my lane. That’d be a douchy maneuver, and I’ve had that done to me. But presenting that wall is more important because if something urgent happens in front of that car, we don’t want our lane to visually be an option for them — I don’t want them swerving into my lane and into me. I instead want them to brake or to swerve to the other side. However, if I see that something urgent in front of them, I will yield space to give them a safe option if they need it while also (my first priority) making sure that I am safe.
Another key for me, in my riding experience and training as an MSF instructor (“Rider Coaches”, we are called), and reading and studying on the matter, are quiet pipes. Quiet pipes tend to not startle other drivers, and they minimize the amount they are startled.
Loud pipes do NOT save lives. They are annoying as hell. And, uh-oh, I may have just started another debate. But there is no debate. Loud pipes do not save lives.
Pass? at a red light? at a messed up defective RR crossing in pouring rain?
Yea, i don’t think they are startled much, they hit each other and don’t bat an eye.
I’ve seen more dead people riding into tampa for work every day than i ever saw in combat.
You should really come visit tampa, where the flow might be 70 in a posted 50.
Thanks, no. If a mercedes a bmw and some thing that “resembles” a chopper are doing 70 in a 50, guess which one of the 3 gets pulled over.
Maybe you live in a better place than i, but your lane is visually an option if your vehicle isn’t taking up the entire thing with 6000 pound of metal, and sometimes even then.
Nor do quiet ones, neither has any affect on drivers eyeballs or attention spans
I almost took out a motorcyclist who decided to coast up to my blind spot and then gun the motor with an open exhaust. I noticeably jerked the wheel back and forth. My initial thought was a truck tire exploding next to me. I kept my car in my lane but it had to have unnerved the rider seeing a car swerve back and forth like that.
You need to maintain better awareness of the traffic around you. Surrounding every blind spot is lots of visible spot.
that’s simply not true. You can extend a blind spot back indefinitely. And if a rider is weaving in and around traffic is is quite easy to hide next to trucks completely unseen.
Putting that reality aside it’s just stupid to make a startling noise next to someone on the road.
He managed to coast into your blind spot without you seeing him. You need to check six more. (And seven and three and nine and all them other numbers)
With an open exhaust, you would have been aware there was a bike somewhere in the vicinity. If you couldn’t see him, that should have put you on the alert.
And with an open exhaust, how did he sneak into your blind spot close enough to put him at risk from your reaction?
That’s simply not true. When coasting the volume of a motorcycle (or car with open headers) is significantly quieter than WOT. Most cars have stereos in them and even a low volume of music will drown out traffic around you.
I will go so far as to say the rider in my example DELIBERATELY revved his bike so as to create as much noise as possible. It was if he was riding with the idea that loud pipes save lives.
folks, whenever a cager claims he “didn’t see” a motorcycle, it means he didn’t look.
No, “loud pipes save lives” is a falsehood.