Should Lane Splitting be legal in all 50 States

Yes, lane-splitting works in cali and should elsewhere.
Unlimited speed limits work on the autobahn in Germany and should elsewhere.
The difference? Education, yes; mentality, more. I didn't think German driving was much better in Germany when I got there. They weren't, many of the drivers truly are crap. However, the adherence to the rules is better. I didn't appreciate German driving until I returned to the states for a vacation. It was so very bad, much worse than realized when you first get to Germany.
Lane splitting should be legal, but so should much higher speeds. It is practical when people know what is going on. Unfortunately, the US lives to the lowest common denominator and that is why we are declining in world power. I hope we wake up and retake our superiority (as a country) soon.

I think there was a thread about this a few months ago, but I remember reading that the German government's driver testing and vehicle inspection requirements are WAY more strict than in the U.S. In fact, they'd be politically unacceptable here, where taking away a driver's license is viewed as a death sentence. Many European countries have policies that try to reduce the number of drivers on the roads. Far different situation here.

UK also. A bald tire (bald meaning less than the minimum allowable tread ANYWHERE on the tire) will get you three penalty points. Twelve penalty points will earn a 12-month driving ban, so four bald tires can cost you your license. ...and there are no "drive to work" exceptions over there.

BTW most US drivers would not BELIEVE what's involved in a vehicle safety inspection in the UK - motorcycles too. I think Germany may be even tougher.

If that's true: Bloody hell!

We can't even get the judges here to revoke the licenses of drunk drivers on a consistent basis in a lot of states.

Mandatory minimum one year driving disqualification for first offence in UK - and as I noted earlier, there is no "drive to work" license or any other way around it. No mopeds either, as they also require a license. You'd be riding public transport or cycling.

Back on topic; provided you have a license, filtering between lanes of traffic on your motorcycle is legal. Had fun back in June, leading a US friend through Birmingham, on the M-6, at rush hour, in the pouring rain.

Have you ever been on the highways in the Northeast? I been to California a few times and let me tell you I was absolutely shocked when vehicles ahead of me actually used the pullouts in the road to let me by. This happened repeatedly so know it wasn't just a fluke. Out here , it's people in their own world driving completely out of step in the left lane, crossing 3 lanes in one swoop to exit or the other half thats all about me, me ,me and swerve , speed up or cut off anyone who dares get in the way. Until they combine rear facing cameras into cell phones and eye scanners that automatically activate turn signals, No way I'm riding down the middle of fast moving traffic here. ​

Even the cops drive drunk around here.

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=0a5759df-7641-4da9-a34a-0b3df3a769b7

http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/street/2008/11/19/pacific_police_chief_johyn_calkins_must_

The drunk drivers were out in force even before the sun set on the 31st, I saw three obviously impaired drivers at 3pm.

I suppose I'd want it to be legal, but having grown up near Rhode Island and New Jersey, and now living in Louisiana, there are many states where I wouldn't trust the cagers as far as I could throw them.

Every week down here I see some new stunt that just comes out of the "Did I just see that?" area of the driving manual. Latest favorite. I was running about 10 over on a 55mph fairly straight road. Car comes up my ass, tailgates for about 1/4 mile, passes me and about 1/4 mile up stops and turns left into a driveway with no signal. Other personal fav's are the use of the center turn lane for passing, and turning either direction from the farthest lane away from the direction you're turning or stopping at the top of an interstate on-ramp and waiting for traffic moving 75mph to let you in. And that's not including about 80% of all drivers running every stop sign when they're turning right.

Lane split in Louisiana? Not even if it WAS legal.

Y'all have kind of a strange notion of sharing. TYPICALLY traffic's not going faster'n about 30 AND in bumper to bumper traffic, what're they gonna do?! Lane 2 potentially COULD open a door and lane 1 potentially try and squeeze you. Either potential thing is see-able if your head's on a swivel and you're alert to the signs.

When sharing, I'll look in the mirrors of the drivers I'm about to pass. Typically you don't see faces (ie: they're not lookin in the mirrors like they was taught in driver's ed. ) till they're about to do something. See a face and PAY ATTENTION!

If you can't see faces in mirrors, watch the front tires or watch for the cage drifting to one side of the lane or another. Front tires will twitch/turn before the car does, giving you that extra time to get the funk outta the way.

I know its been said above somewhere, but the safest place to share lanes is between two cages. If there's a gap, there's a chance someone's gonna try and pull into it! I've BTDT. I'll actually wait to pass till there's two cages side-by-side if I've been spooked that day.

I've spent a significant amount of time sharing lanes up and down the 5 in Sandy Eggo. Its not bad, just different! Course its gonna take some SERIOUS edumacating of yer typical brain-dead commuter to get it thru their thick skulls. Gee wonder what the AMA has going on other than fighting helmet laws?

BTW, its nothing you don't already do! yer just in closer quarters.

M

I would love to lane split in places I know are chronically backed up, only at certain times of the day. The place it really needs to be legal is Atlanta, already when the interstate is backed up, all the bikes go down in between the HOV lane and the next lane in that wide section.

I remember when I had a 8-5 job, that hit rush hour both ways, and I had to ride home through the most congested part of the interstate on the way home, where it backed up before an exit for another interstate. No reason not to split there.

Of course it should be legal.

The only thing I worry about is that riders in a lot of areas have invested heavily into the "BIKERS GET EQUAL SPACE" mentality and it's taken a lot of work to get cagers to stop trying to share the lane with motorcycles (i.e. steal our lane and squeek by us). If we can do it to them, they will want to do it back to us. I really like having a little bit of confidence that my lane is MINE (90% of the time at least) and that most drivers won't just try and run me off/out of my lane.

Do you California drivers find that your "right to a full lane" is lessoned by the acceptance of lane-splitting/filtering? Or am I worried about a non-issue?

I would think that cagers would think "what is good for the goose is good for the gander...."

For most people, lane spliting means a motorcycle speeding between cars at high speed on the highway.

Personally, most of the lane spliting I have done is when traffic slows down to a crawl, bumper to bumper, I maneuver between cars at speed below 25 mph. I've ridden past police cars stuck in traffic, numerous times on the Schuylkill Expressway, or NYC tunnel traffic, never once they turned on the siren/lights and gave me a hard time.

I vote that lane spliting should be legal at all traffic pattern, but below certain speed that is well below the speed limit.

FWIW, I vote to make it legal everywhere in the US. We can start here in Georgia!

I got my initial MC license in Norway, and over there the both of the above scenarios are legal! Two cars may not share a lane, but a car and motorcycle can. So, if you want to pass/split: legal. If a bike is going slowly for whatever reason, the polite thing to do is to ride in the right wheel track and let cars blow by. As long as everybody plays by the same rules, everything is kosher. This is, in part, necessitated by the relatively narrow roads and relatively low speeds that are the norm in Norway, however it probably won't ever happen in the USA with the state-by-state licensing system and greater number of multilane roads.

Now that I am back in the USA I wish it were as accepted here. Most urban areas tolerate limited lane splitting, but as has been pointed out, that's more a function of gridlock than driver awareness and isn't legal except in CA. I ride my BMW when I want to either go far or fast... both are required on my current commute, but I take the cage these days because traffic is so bad that the BMW is just too heavy and the R bike clutch does not like the stop-start-slip required for extended stays on the Beltway. Splitting through traffic would save wear and tear on both the bike and my psyche. My scooter is perfect for traffic, but would be even better if I could legally nip up to the head of the line at traffic lights. Its light weight and peppy engine means it can keep up with traffic in the city/burbs, especially if it gets off the line first.

F

Where I live splitting is not legal or common, so when I choose to split it is usually met with much honking and name calling from the drivers sitting in their cages caught in traffic, I have even have drivers open a car door to block my way. Very weird. Seems trapped cage drivers can not stand to watch a bike glide through the mess they are stuck in, go figure.

Taking my chances.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Lane splitting is not legal where I live and ride- but when I'm on the highway and there are two pickups- one in the left lane, and one in the right- apparently content to stay like that until their next oil change... it's not even a consideration or a question for me.
It's just done and I'm on my way.

It should be legal.

If I see a bike coming through the lanes and I'm kinda close to the other car I give some space before I stop.

In Cali I think they just don't want there to be more than a 10mph difference between the cars stopped and the bikes splitting. Totally reasonable.

Bikes deserve a break. We have to deal with idiots in their cars and we are also better for the environment.

Sound wisdom

I was once heading up from NYC to the Finger Lakes (pre-GPS days) when a trucker at a gas stop warned me there was 9 miles of backup on the (only) route north around there...due to an accident.

I got back on the highway and found the delays a half mile up the road.

I lane-split for the next 8.50 miles at about 5-10 MPH. Four lanes, thousands of cars were passed I estimate.

Then I got a weird Spidey sense just as I was coming up to the accident and pulled back into traffic and waited.

3 minutes later a motorcycle LEO came flying up the shoulder, passed by me fast, and kept going.



-Eff