Should Lane Splitting be legal in all 50 States

I don't need to argue. It's my opinion. Is it so hard to fathom that someone would have a different opinion about this? 98% of the states have a differwnt opinion. In the U.S., YOU are a minority.

Not really, according to the poll you are the minority, only 9.84% think "NO It is dangerous and should not be made legal".

Funny enough, 98% of the Countries of Earth allow bikes to filter through traffic, which makes you a minority once again.

Filtering is not "a feeling" one has, filtering enables congested traffic to have more flow.

...and the US in general is a minority.

Issue is that most people in the US never leave the country, so they have never seen drivers in Europe or eastern Asia and no basis to compare it to.

So you get the "I'll open my door" crowd and the unfathomable crowd.

For you to "win" this, you must change my mind.
You probably won't do that.
The poll was asking about the U.S. It didn't ask about Europe.
I think filtering, splitting etc is disrespectful and encroaches of the space cushion of other people.

I watched the first ten minutes of this, and this is how filtering should be done in my opinion. The rider was not a clown about it, he did it safely, and from what I saw only when traffic was stopped or going VERY slowly. I saw nothing dangerous about it at all. Good job rider Whoever you are.

I do it with or without permission.

I just got a message at work today, Commander Naval Region South West (CNRSW) has put out that lane splitting will not be authorized on all bases under their command.

So now motorcyclists get to sit in line creeping forward with the traffic on the base until we get to the blue line, then lane split all the way home.

See my last post. THIS is the attitude we need to change. ...and its coming from 'one of us.'



I highly recommend spending some time in CA before you start making blanket statements. It will literally change your mind about the whole filtering/sharing thing.

I'll start debunking the filtering thing. How many motos do you know that can't out accelerate a car? Even Hardleys can... If you can out accelerate a car, how are you disrespectful and/or encroaching on someone's space cushion by filtering?

IME filter to the front, out accelerate the car next to you, and you've done a few things: A. you're not in the queue at the light. B. you're out of the way even before you get thru the intersection. C. you've facilitated smooth movement thru the intersection by ALL those behind you 'cause they didn't have to wait for yet one more vehicle to go thru the intersection. etc etc etc.

Feelings have nothing to do with any of that.

M

Bummer dood.

M

Military has been kinda tough toward motorcycles the past couple of years it seems. Makes sense, sort of. GIs being "property" of Uncle Sam and all. I guess the government doesn't want their soldiers getting hurt doing "extracurricular activities", since they spent all that money training and housing them. Still seems odd to me, but I am not military.

I think the "oh, I see you now" from the mirror, "you have the right of the way" should also apply to where lane splitting is legal. some angry drivers try want to block once they spoted a motorbike. :eek1 that really upsets the good guy

This is absolutely something that needs to be made legal, it is far safer for us to be able to get out of harms way. I vote YES now!

I see, fastest vehicle to the front please. So I guess if my bike of choice is a KLR650 or a 250 I need to move to the edge of the lane to let every Mustang GT or whoever else thinks they are faster move up beside me.
I'm faster so let me up front. Brilliant argument.

Why does everyone keep telling me I need to ride in CA before I can have an opinion when I've already stated I've ridden in CA and the poll was not addressing CA, it was addressing all 50 states.
I don't think I want to be "one of us" because I'm not impressed with "us". Leave me out of it, I've had enough.

They are the traffic geniuses after all.

I got stopped on Pendleton on my bicycle and was ordered to ride on the left-side of the road, facing oncoming traffic. This is univerally agreed as the worst possible way to ride a bicycle, and is illegal in all 50 states and Canada and Europe. Only on US military bases is it considered good practice for a bicycle to accelerate its closing speed toward oncoming vehicles, while attempting to share their lane.

Civilian bike clubs in San Diego even went on base to talk to the command about it. They pointed to some pages in a book they have (written in the 1940s) and said, ride on the left or don't ride here.

Must have come out of the "military intelligence" branch.

Quite true. Veteran lane-splitters look for it, and you need to be going slow enough to react.

The rule in Cali is, "...in a safe and prudent manner." The LEO's opinion is the final say on the matter in court.

BTW -- lane splitting and filtering in Cali is not encoded in state statute one way or the other. It's all based on a letter issued by the CHP some years ago stating their own position on the matter -- when they will and will not give out "illegal lane change" tickets.

County courts all follow that letter, even at the local cop & sheriff level. So, it's almost a "common law" matter in this state.

In my experience, I've seen and heard of tickets for splitting only when the splitter is doing so in traffic that is actually rolling along. If the traffic is moving at about 40mph or better, you're increasing your odds of getting a ticket.

i filter/split on the higways when traffic is going below 40mph. above that speed the spaces between cars increase and there is more of a danger of being cut off. also i don't split at an unsafe speed, ie 60 when traffic is going 15. i usually do about 15 to 20 mph faster than the slow traffic.
i have found that this annoys some riders and i get out of their way when a space opens up.
what the automotive crowd hates are the 75mph splitters. if you are doing that there is no possible way you can react to any obsticle in your way.

when in rush hour traffic i feel safer splitting than riding in line with traffic. i would rather be bumped on the side than be the meat in the sammich.

you call yourself a motorcyclist?



Amazing.

Tell ya what. You ride your ride, I'll ride mine. Mine'll include sharing and filtering where safe. M'kay?

M

I've been to places where bicycles drive like cars and take up the entire lane. The thinking is that lane spitting is dangerous and that sharing the road means that the bike gets the entire lane.

Boy is it slow going up a hill behind a foot powered bike or waiting for one to brave a left hand turn at an intersection.

I have also seen foot powered bikes cut to the front of the line and then hold up traffic.

True. ...but we're not talking about bicycles. That thread is down in Jo Momma

M