Lane Splitting 101...

[bygdawg]

I've been doing some research on this topic and have found that lane splitting is only legal in California. Is anyone aware if that information is correct or if some other states have legalized it since this was posted? Below are some links for those that may be interested in learning more about motorcycle laws by state:

http://accident-law.freeadvice.com/accident-law/motorcycle-helmut-laws.htm

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/video/11126087/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_splitting

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/PrintLaws.html

http://www.ketchum.org/ls101.html

http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mclaw/split.html

[1TallTXn]

AFIK, its been bandied about in several other states, but never passed.

[bygdawg]

I think it's legal over the pond. Maybe some of you UK folks can enlighten us...

[Mark]

It is still only not-illegal in California.
:(

Mark

[bmcdonau]

I wouldn't do it even if it were legal in Texas. From all the road rage incidents here in San Antonio I think there are a lot of people here that would try to hit you on purpose.

[bygdawg]

Another good question...I know you are not suppose to pass to the right or left where a solid line exist, but what about when there is enough lane to drive up on the right when turning right at a red light? I've seen small cars do it and get away with it. I think it's probably up to the officer, but I got away with it this morning in MS. On my commute today, as I approached a line of cars stopped at a red light, I noticed plenty of road off to the right and simply pulled out and around all the cars until I made my way to the lead car, all of which were going straight. However, the lead car just happened to be a MS highway patrol. I came to a complete stop, looked right and left, and proceeded to make my right hand turn without so much as a glance or dirty look from said officer. Was I in the wrong here?

[Mark]

In California you can only ride the right if you're turning right *and* you don't ride off the pavement. DAMHIK :mad: ( I didn't ride off the road but the CHP couldn't see and decided I must have: the judge sided with the officer even though the CHP wasn't in a position to see.)

I've also seen a line of cruzers riding on the right past a line of cars all lined up around the curve to get their tickets in California. And they thought they were just so :cool: before they got their awards.

Mark

[tommyboy]

Boy, do we have problems with riding through other states on this issue. I can remember a few years ago when we had the riders meeting for 3 Flags being told not to split lanes once outside of California.

[Mark]

I wouldn't do it even if it were legal in Texas. From all the road rage incidents here in San Antonio I think there are a lot of people here that would try to hit you on purpose.

I don't understand this comment.

You don't use lane splitting when the road is open so I can't see it making a difference when on lonely roads...

If it ever becomes legal it will be *legal* anyone that decides that they don't like it and uses the car as a weapon will be legally at fault if they cause damage.
If they try and pull in on you, you just move around them (and if you can't get around them; you wait until you can use the lane to right to get around them). If they continue to pull over they will hit the car beside them not you on the bike....

Mark

[1TallTXn]

in TX you can pass on the right, on an improved shoulder, if the vehicle you are passing is turning left, or is preparing to turn left.

As for the stoplight thing, I don't know the rules officially, but I've done it and I've seen lots of folks do it and not get nabbed for it

[1TallTXn]

I don't understand this comment.

You don't use lane splitting when the road is open so I can't see it making a difference when on lonely roads...

If it ever becomes legal it will be *legal* anyone that decides that they don't like it and uses the car as a weapon will be legally at fault if they cause damage.
If they try and pull in on you, you just move around them (and if you can't get around them; you wait until you can use the lane to right to get around them). If they continue to pull over they will hit the car beside them not you on the bike....

Mark
but if they see you coming and swerve when you are beside them, you are SOL.

I've split a few times in TX and only had one moron honk at me. Most people just moved over and let me through.

[bygdawg]

All the folks that I passed this morning were going straight at the light.

[wjbertrand]

but if they see you coming and swerve when you are beside them, you are SOL.

I've split a few times in TX and only had one moron honk at me. Most people just moved over and let me through.


If they have enough speed to swerve and block you before you can react, you're probably splitting/filtering too fast. I keep my relative speed pretty modest when lane splitting. I have had folks move over to crowd the space and prevent me from passing. I just patiently wait until things re-shuffle a bit in the adjacent lane and carry on. I have rarely had to stop completely. I can't emphasize the relative speed thing. I've seen squids zooming between rows of slow moving or stopped cars doing 50 - 60 MPH, maybe more. That's nuts.

One important tip; do not attempt to split close to a car in one lane and an empty spot in the adjacent lane. The cages will often go for the empty spot and not see you splitting there. Though it's a little counter-intuitive, it's much safer to hang back until a cage moves into the empty slot next to the other cage and then split between them. If the first cage doesn't see you, your odds are better that he'll at least see the other cage and stay put.

I personally lane split daily on my commute to work, sometimes for miles at a time and believe, done carefully, it is safer than remaining in the lane. One time as traffic came to a sudden slow, I moved into the space between the cages and started to split when the car that had been following me rear ended the car I had been behind seconds prior. I shudder to think what would have happened had I remained dutifully in my lane.

The CHP around here don't seem to have any problem with it, as I've often been followed through by or followed a CHP motor officer and suffered nothing more than a friendly wave after the jam freed up and normal speeds resumed. In fact just a couple of weeks ago, I witnessed a truck getting pulled over after the driver got pissed off and passed both me and the CHP motor while using part of the left shoulder and passing very close to us.

[motomac]

Bygdog, nice research. I have split lanes in CA and AZ. And Mark I know it isn't legal in your state, but last year, 60 was backed up and dead stop and I had to get to our meeting at 9:00. The nearest exit was 4 miles away, it was 8:45, so I split. One guy honked his horn and flipped me off and one guy got his mirror clipped cause he thought he could squeeze me out. All that being said, the report by Richard Garzia was spot on. You have to be extremly careful and look way ahead to do this well. I still haven't done it on the ST that I can recall, and the Wing does it very well once you get the butterflies out of your gut and do it.

[Computer Nerd]

There has been some enforcement on bikes lanesplitting unsafely.

I see bikes getting pulled over a couple of times a week. I guess they are splitting too fast.

[bygdawg]

Bygdog, nice research. I have split lanes in CA and AZ. And Mark I know it isn't legal in your state, but last year, 60 was backed up and dead stop and I had to get to our meeting at 9:00. The nearest exit was 4 miles away, it was 8:45, so I split. One guy honked his horn and flipped me off and one guy got his mirror clipped cause he thought he could squeeze me out. All that being said, the report by Richard Garzia was spot on. You have to be extremly careful and look way ahead to do this well. I still haven't done it on the ST that I can recall, and the Wing does it very well once you get the butterflies out of your gut and do it.

Butterflies??? You're a braver man that me, splitting with the Wing. :eek: :) You should've just racked the bird flipper up side the head with one of your frying pans as you sped by. lol

[forgitaboutut]

I don't think it should legal ANYWHERE!

[bygdawg]

Awwww come on...Don't be a party pooper. It would have to be better than sitting (as a duck) in some of that heavy backed up traffic in Cally.

[wjbertrand]

I don't think it should legal ANYWHERE!

I think it should be legal everywhere!

[motomac]

Butterflies??? You're a braver man that me, splitting with the Wing. :eek: :) You should've just racked the bird flipper up side the head with one of your frying pans as you sped by. lol

The SO was with me and she took care of the flipper!!!!! I never did figure out what she yelled at him!!! She carrried on a dialog with him for a couple of seconds. I was busy moving on down the road.

And the fact that I did split on the Wing should give an idea of how much room there is between the cages.

[bygdawg]

Well...It's good to hear you had backup on that one. :)

[Computer Nerd]

It's legal everywhere else except for the home of the brave.

Well, it's semi-not-illegal-just-don't-push-your-luck here in Cali.

[bygdawg]

I'll keep that in mind when I'm out that way this summer.

[bmcdonau]

I don't understand this comment.

You don't use lane splitting when the road is open so I can't see it making a difference when on lonely roads...

If it ever becomes legal it will be *legal* anyone that decides that they don't like it and uses the car as a weapon will be legally at fault if they cause damage.
If they try and pull in on you, you just move around them (and if you can't get around them; you wait until you can use the lane to right to get around them). If they continue to pull over they will hit the car beside them not you on the bike....

Mark

It doesn't matter if they are legally at fault if you have a broken leg does it? People down here ram each other and pull guns on one another over traffic incidents. I just don't need to provoke some idiot whose steaming because hes stuck in traffic and you aren't.

[bygdawg]

That's when you need your CCW. :)

[illzoni]

If I lived in Texas and splitting beame legal I wouldn't need a CCW as it would be strapped to me hip in plain sight.

I'm with Jeff B on several points:

It should be legal everywhere.

Speed differential is important. Most of my splitting is on surface streets and thus is done in 1st gear easing through traffic at red lights.

More move over to give room than those who crowd the line. Easily 5 to 1. Sometimes I'll even say thanks if I think they have a chance of hearing me.

On one of Jeff's points:
It's not legal to split/share next to an empty lane. At the very least, you need to occupy the empty lane if both lanes aren't occupied. But Jeff's point is also ver valid....cars aren't expecting us to be there, so zooming past that gap me be an invitation to meet a cager as he attempts to fill the gap.

Jon

[motomac]

Speed differential is important. Most of my splitting is on surface streets and thus is done in 1st gear easing through traffic at red lights.

More move over to give room than those who crowd the line. Easily 5 to 1. Sometimes I'll even say thanks if I think they have a chance of hearing me.


Jon


+1 on the most move over. In CA, I found that most drivers are very aware of motorcycles that are splitting lanes and if the cage is rolling they will open up to allow the bike more room. And I agree at least 5-1 ratio.

[motomac]

I'm sorry, but SMIDSY's isn't in my official internet acronym dictionary!!!???

[motomac]

Thanks

[bygdawg]

I'm aware that it's illegal in Germany, but as far as I know it is legal in the rest of Europe - I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Here in the UK, it is legal. In London it's almost mandatory. So many people are on two wheels now since the Congestion Charge was introduced in Central London (NO charge for 2-wheelers:) ). Now the Charging Zone has been increased in size, I think we will see an increase in the use of two wheels.

We don't have the highways that you seem to have in many US cities, so we have to make the best use of what we have, and that includes lane splitting. You have to be VERY aware of what other road users are doing/about to do, and I think you develop a sixth sense, certainly by observing as much as you possibly can.

We find that more accidents involving motorcycles are caused by SMIDSY's coming out of junctions; u-turns; and general innattentiveness by other road users.

LMAO over SMIDY's. I think you guys use a lot of smaller cars over that way too, such as the mini and others. We here in the U.S., and by we I mean "some" others feel like they have to be in a 2 ton wagon that gets 10 mpg and carries 14 people comfortably for it to qualify as a road going machine. I've always chose to be on the lighter side of the spectrum myself. I figure maybe...just maybe...I'm saving a penguin from losing is ice cap from global warming. lol

[wjbertrand]

On one of Jeff's points:
It's not legal to split/share next to an empty lane. At the very least, you need to occupy the empty lane if both lanes aren't occupied. But Jeff's point is also ver valid....cars aren't expecting us to be there, so zooming past that gap me be an invitation to meet a cager as he attempts to fill the gap.

Jon

I'm pretty sure there is no law that addresses this situation, so I don't think it's illegal (making it legal by default, just like lane sharing) but it is inadvisable. It is illegal to lane share at the far left or right shoulder of the road, you must do this between lanes of traffic moving in the same direction. Agree with the rest of the comment.

[bygdawg]

Lane sharing with bikes would be okay though, right?

[tommyboy]

One of the reasons I sold my GL1500 and went to the ST was the width of the bike (besides the fact that I like the ST so much). I split lanes regularly on the freeways (not on city streets). My rule of thumb is to split lanes only between the 1 & 2 (left and second to left) lanes, travel no more that 15 mph faster than traffic and forget about splitting lanes when the average speed appears to be above 40 mph. I have been knocked from my bike (PC800 back then) when splitting lanes. What pissed me off the most was the guy just took off, leaving me sprawled across the two left lanes on the 605. No damage the bike or me, just got up and rode on. I see some guys splitting lanes at a high rate of speed relative to traffic, or splitting lanes on freeway interchanges (605N to 10W) and think "this guy must have a real deathwish."

[bygdawg]

I think the 1500 series was probably a bit wider than the new 18's though. The guy with the "real" death wish splits lanes into on-coming traffic. :)

[dond]

I think it should be legal everywhere!

Or not illegal :)

[bygdawg]

I concur...

[RTETR]

I did my first and only lane splitting last year.

4 bikes, 2xST's, 1xGW, 1xRT while on a trip in Germany. There was an accident and the E43 was backed up for miles. We drove straight bewteen the two northbound lanes and the cars, trucks all moved as if Moses was leading us. No honks, no waves no fuss. One BMW even folded his side mirror in as we approached.

Lane splitting must have save us at least an hour or two and was a very odd and almost a reverant experience.

One thing's for sure, Europe has a totally different view and appreciation of motorcycles and "how to drive" in general.

[bygdawg]

I thought someone said it wasn't legal in Germany???

[RTETR]

I don't know if it's legal in Germany or not but no one had issue with it. They do however get pissy of you pass on the right... I learned that quick.

Here's a link to the same topic on another MC site (http://news.motorcycle.com/article.motml?thold=-1&mode=flat&order=0&sid=1758).. One member claims it's a No-no and another who lives/lived in Germany said he does it all the time...? I dunno...

[Herleman]

Don't do it on a military base anywhere. You get to talk to un-nice folks.

[tommyboy]

It is far easier to split lanes when traffic is moving than when it is stopped. When no one is moving there are cars in all locations within the lanes. This makes it much more challenging or impractical to continue along because eventually you come up on a truck and car too close together, but perfectly legal because each is in their respective lanes. the other real issue with width is that the ST, much like the PC800 has the mirrors lower on the bike. My GL1500 had its mirrors at the same level as every SUV on the road.

[illzoni]

TommyBoy has a point....

Splitting moving traffic on the freeway is quite a bit easier due to the movement of the cages and the nice wide lanes.

However, splitting stopped traffic on surface streets may be more difficult because of narrower lanes and occcasional impasses, it's still much safer as any 'encounter' is going to have much smaller consequences.

Jon

[bygdawg]

About the only time you'd do it in stopped traffic would be during gridlock, and you'd have to watch out for accidents up ahead. IF everyone is at a full stop, something isn't right up ahead.

[George]

Wildest lane splitting I EVER saw was on the way to local lake/hot spot in South Carolina. Headed up a pretty nice, windy road, 2-lane, double yellow, pretty heavy traffic both ways. Bunch of squids on their 600s headed up the hill BETWEEN the yellow lines, right up the center. Locals must be used to it as no one even seemed to notice.

Had to wonder, tho, what happens when the rival squid group has completed their look-see and are on the way DOWN at the same time! =8^O

[bygdawg]

Craziest thing I ever saw was a squid on 20 going into Atlanta riding a wheelie at about 80 to 85mph in the passing lane. I'm thinking to myself...now if that thing comes over, you're going to be dead. Even if you do somehow survive the fall, you're going to get run over by oncoming traffic. :eek: The kid looked like a young guy that thought he was bullet-proof.

[curmudgeon]

I think it should be legal everywhere!

I totally agree. The first time I rode to California I was afraid to lane split and sit there in terrible traffic for a long time. When I finally got guts enough to try it I found it was very easy and felt to be quite safe. I do believe the ST is an almost perfect lane splitter. The low mirrors really help and it also helps to know that anything the mirrors will clear the bags will clear. This can't be said of most BMW's.

Phil

[STOnkin'aussie]

recently here in Australia there was a concerted effort to outlaw lane splitting. Pleased to say the government advisors sided with the riding fraternity and lane splitting remains legal.

One thing tho' you may only lane split when vehicles being passed are staionary ie when at traffic lights etc. try it on the open road and the leo's will issue you with some nice confetti.