Legal Consequences of Lane Splitting/Filtering?

[der_saeufer]

Originally Posted by gplutt

I went to California last spring and found the same. If you were going faster than they were, they got out of your way. If you passed them (double yellow or not), they seemed to assume that you just wanted to go faster than them and didn't care. If it wasn't safe for you to pass and they thought you wanted to go faster THEY ACTUALLY PULLED OFF QUICKLY SO YOU COULD PASS THEM. There was no politeness involved, it seemed. It was just a purely a rational form of roadcraft. It was a pretty eye opening experience. To all those Californians, thanks. You have a great state with great drivers, and I'm going to visit again.

California has a lot of problems, but bad drivers really aren't one of them. Whenever people complain about how bad drivers in LA are, the only thing I can think is that the complainer him/herself doesn't actually know how to drive. Don't get me wrong, I see some stuuuupid shit on a daily basis, but nothing holds a candle to the poor driving I saw living in the Northeast. Even when I come back to Denver to visit my family, I think "damn, these people are sleep-driving." Northwest drivers aren't too bad either, except for the left-lane camping.

And I agree--people here, especially in the less-dense areas are OK with just getting out of the way. I can't count how many times I've been riding along a mountain road enjoying my day when the car in front will hug the shoulder and wave me around just because he feels like it. I don't tailgate or annoy people on mountain roads, so they're letting me pass just to be nice. That almost never happens elsewhere.

As for the OP: Filter away in California, just don't be stupid and life's good. Outside of California, the rule is "don't get caught."