Should Lane Splitting be legal in all 50 States

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by southwade

Haha, same with Crown Vics and Mercury Marquis... I hate seeing those headlights behind me... then come to find out it's just a granny with a lead foot.

Even worse are the retired cop cars. Even have the lights on the A pillar.



Around here, they've gone to cars without light bars on top of em. Makes spotting cops tough. Even worse are the Chargers. Not used to seeing that particular car as a cop car.

M

[RxZ]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

Regardless of what the naysayers think, its really not all that hard to lane share safely.

M

In Texas anyway, all lanes on urban roads must be at least 10 feet wide, 11 feet for highways. Preferred width is 12 feet on both if space allows (almost always on highways). A full-ton truck, even with the dual rear wheels is about 8 to 8.5 feet wide, with mirrors. If you have two lanes going the same direction, even with two of these huge trucks right beside each other, as long as they are pretty close to centered in their lane their is still plenty of space for a motorcycle to filter through safely.

Now, with most commuters in the cities finally figuring out they don't need an F-350 to go to work at the office building, imagine two Camrys beside each other. They are only 6 feet wide. That is like having a full size land between them! Very easy to safely filter in those situations.

[jfurf]

Originally Posted by Kent Glasscock

My sister's boyfriend is a cop and I asked him if I could do it and he said that if traffic was stopped or at an almost standstill and you're going through slowly he wouldn't have a problem with it. But that's him. Other police may not think so. They would probably ticket you for reckless driving. Here in Winston Salem, it is backed up on a occasion but not every day. Raleigh and Charlotte are different. Maybe it depends on the city? DC is huge, NYC is huge, Atlanta is huge. Cops got a lot of other stuff going on with traffic than wether or not some guy is filtering.

I do it fairly regularly here in Atlanta when traffic is super backed up (usually on the freeways). I've ridden right past numerous Atlanta and DeKalb Co. police and never had a problem. A few months ago I was splitting up I-85 and ahead of me was a Georgia State Patrol car. He saw me and jutted his car out into the space to send me a "don't do that" kind of message. I read it loud and clear so I just ducked into a lane a few cars back and waited.

I think the big distinction is between the urban cops and the staties. The state troopers, I think, tend to be from the country and don't understand city-style driving/riding.

[ragtoplvr]

That was a joke folks.

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by ragtoplvr

That was a joke folks.

Geez! Get it right. Its obviously Obama/Bush 2/Bush 1's fault more than it is Ronny Ray-gun's!



M

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by jfurf

I do it fairly regularly here in Atlanta when traffic is super backed up (usually on the freeways). I've ridden right past numerous Atlanta and DeKalb Co. police and never had a problem. A few months ago I was splitting up I-85 and ahead of me was a Georgia State Patrol car. He saw me and jutted his car out into the space to send me a "don't do that" kind of message. I read it loud and clear so I just ducked into a lane a few cars back and waited.

Good call.

While its possible the cop could've gotten you, it woulda been tough.

...but its real hard to outrun a Motorola... SOMEone would've been waiting for you at some point.

M

[southwade]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

Even worse are the retired cop cars. Even have the lights on the A pillar.



Around here, they've gone to cars without light bars on top of em. Makes spotting cops tough. Even worse are the Chargers. Not used to seeing that particular car as a cop car.

M

Back when I lived in east TX they used to use old drug cars, everything. F150, Corvette, Tahoe, Camaro... Hayabusa...

[RxZ]

Originally Posted by southwade

Back when I lived in east TX they used to use old drug cars, everything. F150, Corvette, Tahoe, Camaro... Hayabusa...

yep, that's how it is down here.

And I just noticed you have a Z1000! How do you like it? If I could afford to write a 10K check I would own one today (dealer has one in burnt orange ).

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by ragtoplvr

That was a joke folks.

I don't believe you.

[southwade]

Originally Posted by RxZ

yep, that's how it is down here.

And I just noticed you have a Z1000! How do you like it? If I could afford to write a 10K check I would own one today (dealer has one in burnt orange ).

I just traded my Ninja 650 in for it the other day.

It is amazing. It's been my dream bike for years, even before I started riding. I'm so glad I didn't get it right away... I wanted 10,000 miles on two wheels before getting it, glad I did that, this thing is ridiculous.

here's a pic I took last night:

2012 Kawasaki Z1000 by Southwade, on Flickr

[Roadracer_Al]

Nice Pic!

I shopped for a Z1000 before buying my --- snore --- V-Strom 1k. I wanted something comfortable for long distance. The Z was a lot more entertaining to ride, however.

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by southwade

I just traded my Ninja 650 in for it the other day.

Congrats!!!

Ride Well Ride Often

[RxZ]

Originally Posted by southwade

I just traded my Ninja 650 in for it the other day.

It is amazing. It's been my dream bike for years, even before I started riding. I'm so glad I didn't get it right away... I wanted 10,000 miles on two wheels before getting it, glad I did that, this thing is ridiculous.

2012 Kawasaki Z1000 by Southwade, on Flickr

I know the feeling. I am 2K miles from that milestone myself. I told myself the same, that I wanted 10K on my ex500 before moving to anything else. I should pass that before the summer, so we will see... (how I can do on old student loan debt between now and then).

Congrats on the new bike!

[southwade]

Originally Posted by RxZ

I know the feeling. I am 2K miles from that milestone myself. I told myself the same, that I wanted 10K on my ex500 before moving to anything else. I should pass that before the summer, so we will see... (how I can do on old student loan debt between now and then).

Congrats on the new bike!

Thanks.

Back to business. Z1000 makes a great lane splitting bike, high mirrors, light steering.

[PhilB]

Originally Posted by ray h

Right, Exactly, Bullseye.............
And yet......You dumbasses still think it's a good idea.
Remember the original poll? 50 United States.
The poll said nothing about CA, it asked nothing about Europe or Asia, yet every illiterate moron on this damn forum has told me my opinion isn't valid because I Haven't ridden in CA (which I have stated that I was stationed there and rode there, but that's ok, because we know you can't read anyway) or Europe.
It's already legal in CA and most of Europe, we know that, the poll isn't talking about that.
I agree with Dummee, and the other stooges, it's not excepted and expected in the other 49 states therefore a bad idea. Thats why riders in 49 states shouldn't do it. I personally won't do it because I think it's rude. Ride your ride, I'll ride mine.
Now, if you mouth breathing moronaphyles feel like exchanging insults just step right up, I don't usually dip into those waters but I can when I feel like it.

I find it hard to believe that Californians are so much superior to residents of other states that they alone can manage this, and no one else would be able to figure it out.

Originally Posted by Human Ills

I like the part where you take insults which have clearly been hurled at you all your life and try to use them to describe your betters.

And the word you're looking for is accepted.

Originally Posted by ray h

My "betters"?
If that were true you certainly wouldn't be in this conversation, Spanky.

I'd like to say if I met you guys I'd buy you a beer but I think I'd buy you a box of binkies and bandaids because much of what I see here is crying and crashing.
Save a few of those because a year from now when this thread is forgotten and I'm gone, you'll be back here crying about how you "had to lay it down" or how you lost in a game of chicken while splitting.

Boy, Human Ills did nail that one on the head.

Originally Posted by Human Ills

I've been 'splitting' for 25 years and haven't "had to lay 'er down" yet.

This. Over 40,000 miles of lanesplitting for me, at least a few miles done nearly every day for more than 20 years, and no accidents while doing it.

Originally Posted by ray h

Of course you haven't had to lay her down while splitting but I bet you've taken out your share of other people's mirrors. Those are exceptable losses thou? right?
I was walking through the parking lot the other day and I bumped someones mirror with my arm and felt bad about it, I couldn't imagine being the kind of person that could hit their mirror with my vehicle and not give a damn or better yet, blame them because you hit their mirror, why are they driving on your goddamn road anyway.

Well, no, I've never taken out anyone's mirror either. I have on very rare occasions bumped my barend mirror on someone else's, almost always someone who is trying to keep me from getting by, so I don't feel terribly guilty about that. But never has the bump been hard enough to break either their mirror or mine, so I adjust it back to the proper view and go on.

And the word you were looking for is "acceptable".

And for someone who is so terribly concerned about the rudeness of lanesplitting, and feels bad about bumping a mirror with your arm, you sure call a lot of names and are very rude. It kind of undermines your arguments.

PhilB