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Yes, We Should Let Motorcycles Ride Between Cars

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bradley said:
At 55MPH, in two seconds you've traveled almost half the length of a football field. The average 3 lbs human brain can't as quickly comprehend or react to 4,000 lbs of steel in motion. That's why it makes sense to add the redundancy and predictability of lanes and enforce the rules for all drivers.

Lane splitting when traffic is in motion is a selfish disregard for safety of others. Stop with the BS green excuses.
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😵 Nobody is advocating lane splitting when traffic is moving at speed. I'd say it should only be done when traffic moving at 30mph or less and I'm sure that's what the guidelines will say if this bill passes.
 
bradley said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRawjlH8Img&t=5m40s

Bye little ragdoll, enjoy the laws of physics. Notice how the second cyclist filming the incident then thinks twice about lane splitting. Many other examples exist on Youtube of these witless riders.
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Yeah, riding like a douchebag will get you that result very quickly. These types of riders tend not to be around very long but they unfortunately give safe riders a bad name.

Thanks for perpetuating the stereotype for us... :colbert:
 
JulesMaximus said:
😵 Anyone opens a car door on me and they better hope they kill me because I'm dragging their ass out the car and beating the shit out of them if they try that shit with me.

Fact is, most people are fairly accommodating and will actually move over to give passing motorcyclists more room. I do this when I'm in the cage. Most motorcyclists who split do it in a prudent manner. I've never seen someone lane splitting through stopped traffic at 100mph like some have said. Not once. You'd have to be insane or have a death wish to do that.
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This is exactly why it needs to be 100% at-risk and at fault for the person doing it. If you're exercising a right to exempt yourself from the prevailing traffic laws (e.g. motorcycle lane splitting, bicycle blowing through stop sign, etc.) then you're putting everyone at more risk and not just yourself. That's because traffic laws work because they create a sense of expectations and order that allows people to anticipate and avoid accidents. When you lane split you're disrupting the 99.9% of other drivers on a congested freeway who *should* be able to take lane integrity for granted as that's what you're fucking supposed to do. If I'm at a dead stop in traffic I should not have to look behind me before cracking my door open for whatever purpose because some dumbass like you decides that "cagers" should have to cater to you.

It would be the exact same thing if you were driving a car in the bike lane, then you'd be at fault because bikers should have a reasonable expectation that you'll act like a bike while in the bike lane. Etc etc etc.
 
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JulesMaximus said:
😵 Nobody is advocating lane splitting when traffic is moving at speed. I'd say it should only be done when traffic moving at 30mph or less and I'm sure that's what the guidelines will say if this bill passes.
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So traffic is at 30mph, you're at 45mph. You're still fucked.

But hey, who am I to stop you. Can I have your stuff?

Edit: And if you don't think some dumbass with his eyes on his phone will suddenly switch lanes at 30mph and turn you into ground beef, you're deluded.

http://www.ots.ca.gov/pdf/campaign/2014_Distracted_Driving_Fact_Sheet.pdf

LOL, lane splitters.
 
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BoberFett said:
So traffic is at 30mph, you're at 45mph. You're still fucked.

But hey, who am I to stop you. Can I have your stuff?
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These are probably the same dickwads who decide to bypass traffic congestion by driving at speed in the breakdown lane. They all deserve to be flogged in the public square.
 
BoberFett said:
Moving any faster than other traffic at all seems insane to me. All it takes is one person to change lanes without signalling and you're going to be eating your meals through a straw.
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When it's bumper to bumper and everyone's going 3 mph, you can zip by them going 20mph. You can see far enough ahead if a car has more than 1/2 car length of clear space and I slow down and approach that spot with caution prior to clearing it.

I don't understand all the hate here. Lane splitting is a great way to help alleviate traffic if you exercise it with care.
 
positivedoppler said:
When it's bumper to bumper and everyone's going 3 mph, you can zip by them going 20mph. You can see far enough ahead if a car has more than 1/2 car length of clear space and I slow down and approach that spot with caution prior to clearing it.

I don't understand all the hate here. Lane splitting is a great way to help alleviate traffic if you exercise it with care.
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I don't think anyone is a "hater" here, we just want you to recognize what you're doing is hazardous for the expectation reasons I've already laid out and accept a proper amount of heightened responsibility in turn.
 
glenn1 said:
I don't think anyone is a "hater" here, we just want you to recognize what you're doing is hazardous for the expectation reasons I've already laid out and accept a proper amount of heightened responsibility in turn.
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this.

lets say for every 10 good riders there are 4 who aren't

those 4 are the ones who'll have their brains splattered on someones back windshield cause they weren't as good as they thought they were at lane splitting.

that is traumatic for everyone involved.
 
foghorn67 said:
It's illegal to open a door while occupying a lane.
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I don't think that's the case unless you're in motion. If you were in dead stop traffic and opened your door momentarily to dump a cup/fix your windshield wiper/whatever if should follow the same rules as if you were parked on a street.
 
BoberFett said:
So traffic is at 30mph, you're at 45mph. You're still fucked.

But hey, who am I to stop you. Can I have your stuff?

Edit: And if you don't think some dumbass with his eyes on his phone will suddenly switch lanes at 30mph and turn you into ground beef, you're deluded.

http://www.ots.ca.gov/pdf/campaign/2014_Distracted_Driving_Fact_Sheet.pdf

LOL, lane splitters.
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I think what we really need is a bluetooth helmet with head-up display. That way you can talk and text while weaving in and out of lanes.

I'm going to patent this so HANDS OFF!!! :whiste:
 
glenn1 said:
I don't think that's the case unless you're in motion. If you were in dead stop traffic and opened your door momentarily to dump a cup/fix your windshield wiper/whatever if should follow the same rules as if you were parked on a street.
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Illegal where I live. You door a biker or a car driving by hits it, you're at fault.
 
Capt Caveman said:
Yep, folks here don't realize that this has been going on for pretty much forever in CA. Drivers have been accustomed to looking in their sideview mirrors before turning. Just like people looking in their passenger sideview mirror on the lookout for bicyclist.

When I lived in CA, never saw an accident from it.
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Or when checking mirrors/blind spots before changing lanes, as they already should.
 
Capt Caveman said:
Illegal where I live. You door a biker or a car driving by hits it, you're at fault.
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Do you understand the scenario I just laid out? In a traffic jam where cars are not in motion if you're lane splitting and hit someone how the fuck could anyone but the motorcyclist be at fault? And why would you want it otherwise?
 
glenn1 said:
Do you understand the scenario I just laid out? In a traffic jam where cars are not in motion if you're lane splitting and hit someone how the fuck could anyone but the motorcyclist be at fault? And why would you want it otherwise?
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Huh. If lane splitting is legal, you're at fault. Pretty simple.
 
bradley said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRawjlH8Img&t=5m40s

Bye little ragdoll, enjoy the laws of physics. Notice how the second cyclist filming the incident then thinks twice about lane splitting. Many other examples exist on Youtube of these witless riders.
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While I don't doubt physics, when you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. It's the whole premise of the Darwin Award.

1. You can see from the beginning of the video that the rider is a doofus. He is using the right side of the lane as he is going by cars on his right.
You always want to give yourself as much room as possible. When I am in the number one lane, I ride in the right portion of it. When I come up on traffic, I move to the left side. It gives you more time to react.

2. He is riding too fast to safely split. Doofus.

3. I think he had enough time, especially on a sport bike, to miss the car he hit. Doofus.

I can't tell if the driver of the car signaled, but that is the law. It's also against the law to open your door when it is not safe to do so. Doing so, makes you liable.

I'd be fine with that rider removing himself from the gene pool. It's just a shame he had to inconvenience the car driver.
 
glenn1 said:
I don't think that's the case unless you're in motion. If you were in dead stop traffic and opened your door momentarily to dump a cup/fix your windshield wiper/whatever if should follow the same rules as if you were parked on a street.
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All of those scenarios don't necessitate opening a door. Even if you didn't have lane splitters, it isn't safe. Dumping a cup? I never understood this. IF you filled it up, and put in your car...you did have a place for it right? Done and coffee is cold? Dump it at your destination....
Fix a windshield wiper...pull the eff over. And of course, check your mirrors and blind spots for other motorists...two or four wheels.
 
BoberFett said:
I've looked at the "evidence" for that, and it appears pretty flimsy, using numbers that appear to be related at first glance, but really aren't.

"40% of all accidents are people getting rear ended"

Yeah, and how many involved a motorcycle? Almost none.

"Lane splitting accidents are less dangerous than other motorcycle accidents"

Yeah, because you're going slow. If you were sitting in traffic like everyone else, you wouldn't have gotten in an accident at all.

The "facts" around lane splitting are garbage.
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That's not true. I've yet to come close to getting into an accident while splitting lanes. I've lost count how many times cars on my right thought my lane was clear would just turn into it while I'm sitting their in traffic. For that exact reason I always keep about 3-4 meters of space in font of me so I can escape and effectively lane split when people just drive into my lane.
 
Even if there are no motorcycle on the road, it takes a special kind of person to open a car door in the middle of the road without checking back. I've been stuck in traffic before and gotten out of the car to see what on earth is going on. Yet common sense tells me to look behind before i open the door because I'm still in they middle of the freeway
 
glenn1 said:
Do you understand the scenario I just laid out? In a traffic jam where cars are not in motion if you're lane splitting and hit someone how the fuck could anyone but the motorcyclist be at fault? And why would you want it otherwise?
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I don't know where you live but here if your car is parked on a street and you open the door and someone hits it, you are at fault.
 
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