How do you Californians live with lane splitting?

[Arizona_928]

Just back from 2,000 mile road trip from Northern California for a workshop. Used a rental, and yet someone on a POS motorcycle messed up the mirror lane splitting. SOB doesn't even look back, and just keeps going! Gone before I can read the last 4 digits of his plate.

If I was in my truck I would have centered him like the last white tail.

How do you guys live with it? They're ridiculous. Another one flips through the two lane HOV. Almost rear ends a panel van stopped. Cuts it wide, and then barely escapes the car on the other side of the double yellow. That kid had inches!


I will stick to Arizona.

[Rick Lee]

I love riding in CA, have done tens of thousands of miles on my bikes there. Lane splitting is the best. It should be allowed everywhere, though I still wouldn't do it where the culture doesn't accept it. I couldn't bear to have to cage it around SoCal. Pure bliss on a bike. I park for free everywhere, can take HOV anytime and can lane split when there's a jam. I usually get behind a local expert and just follow their lead, sometimes a bike cop. Love it!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Try thinking about it from a rider's perspective - too many cars most of which are driven by uptight jackasses on cell phones or tough-guy wanna-bes oozing testosterone all trying to out-macho one another with ever-increasingly stupid aggressive tactics that don't ultimately get them where they're going any faster (but do endanger others)... I never clipped a mirror while I was there (and if I had I certainly would've stopped). It's a jerk move that the rider didn't stop and own up to his mistake but that's no reason to admit road rage on a public forum to the point where you express willingness to injure or kill another person over a sideview mirror on a rental car of all things. For crying out loud - perspective man... Get some and grow up.

I miss the lane-splitting laws. They make a lot of sense. The idiot lawmakers (and cops) in the New England states (all of them) seem to take pleasure in forcing riders to sit in traffic and will absolutely nail you if you're caught lane-splitting (the doofuses have obviously never considered the effects of no airflow on air-cooled engines among other things!) At least the carpool lanes are still fair game here and you get a pass for parking more often than not. I'm riding a water-cooled BMW K sled these days so I don't worry too much about overheating anyway but it can be a real concern on an air-cooled bike.

The lane splitting (technically "sharing") policy in a as is one of the very few things CA gets right. For now I just make sure to leave extra early when I ride and never worry about traffic. Two of the four states on my relocation short-list also allow it, so that's a plus.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I visit CA frequently for work. On the short list of "why I could never live in CA" would be lane splitting. It scares the crap out of me, I have on multiple occasions almost ran into motorcycles when changing lanes. While I'm sure some use it responsibly, seems like most use it as an excuse to drive irresponsibly and swerve in and out of traffic at their leisure. Thank God traffic in LA is typically stopped, much harder to kill somebody that way.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

There's a "right way" and a "wrong way" to do it. The "right way" is to ride maybe 15-20 mph over what the traffic is doing up until around 35-40 mph at which point there really isn't any reason IMHO (I'd usually just slip back into a lane then like everyone else and ride normally). It really is / should be used as a way to simply keep yourself rolling along while everything else around you is dead-stopped or crawling / stop-go. By simply doing this (which isn't really dangerous at all) you literally can cut your commute time by half or more. I used to be able to go Long Beach to Santa Monica in this way in about an hour. Driving it could take 2˝ to 3 - no joke. That's not whipping in and out of lanes, splitting at 70 mph or otherwise being a douche, it's simply keeping things moving and cutting out the traffic delays.

The guys that do it the "wrong way" are idiots and give responsible riders a bad name. They also (thankfully) usually take themselves out of the gene pool in relatively short order - Darwinism doing its magic...

[CalPersFatCat]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

I miss the lane-splitting laws. They make a lot of sense. The idiot lawmakers (and cops) in the New England states (all of them) seem to take pleasure in forcing riders to sit in traffic and will absolutely nail you if you're caught lane-splitting

I don't think that there is any specific vehicle code that permits lane splitting. I believe that that there is no law prohibiting it, which makes it legal.

If you split lanes in New England (or anywhere) where traffic is gridlocked, how would the police catch up to you (in a police car) to write you a ticket if they were also stuck in the gridlock?

Since I moved to Cincinnati, I have noticed that the police sit by the side of freeways using laser for speed enforcement in moderate to heavy traffic on I71 and I75. It amazes me when I see somebody whiz by the police car at 80 mph, and then slow down to 55 to allow the police time to get moving from a dead stop on the shoulder, merge into traffic, accelerate to a speed sufficient to close the distance on the "speeder", and then catch up to the speeder and pull him over.

When people whiz by the stationary police car at 80 mph, why not just continue at 80 mph, or step it up to 85 mph, and then exit at the next ramp? There is no civic duty to aid the state in their revenue collection scheme.

[CalPersFatCat]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I love riding in CA, have done tens of thousands of miles on my bikes there. Lane splitting is the best. It should be allowed everywhere, though I still wouldn't do it where the culture doesn't accept it. I couldn't bear to have to cage it around SoCal. Pure bliss on a bike. I park for free everywhere, can take HOV anytime and can lane split when there's a jam. I usually get behind a local expert and just follow their lead, sometimes a bike cop. Love it!

I agree. I put 71,000 miles on a crotch rocket in Los Angeles during the 1990's.

The reason that lane splitting "works" in CA is because the vehicle code prohibits big trucks and cars pulling trailers from driving in the left lanes on the freeway. The law is very specific and the CHP enforces it rigidly. You NEVER see a big rig in the "fast lane" on a freeway in SoCal. Ever. Sometimes you'll see a Bro in a lifted 4x4 pulling his boat at 80 mph headed to The River, but sooner or later he will get nailed for it.

[ckelly78z]

I think lane splitting should be allowed everywhere, but by doing so, the rider takes on ALL blame/ liability for any incident that happens involving them, no matter the severity.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

I think lane splitting should be allowed everywhere, but by doing so, the rider takes on ALL blame/ liability for any incident that happens involving them, no matter the severity.

Unless the cager "doors" the biker right?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I've been pulled over for it (a few years ago, cop just gave me a warning so I suppose I got lucky). I was told that I could have been cited for "careless and reckless" driving which I believe is a misdemeanor, not just a traffic infraction. A co-worker who rides as well got nailed last year for exactly that - he said the cop pulled onto the shoulder / "breakdown lane" and blasted up the road to catch up to him (way more reckless than what he was doing most likely, but we all know that doesn't matter - they're above the law...) He hired a lawyer and fought it in court and lost - IIRC it was a few hundred bucks in fines, points on his license and he was out the lawyer costs to fight it in kangaroo court (like he had a hope in hell of winning anyway - the system is rigged and we all know it...). He's the one that told me it's a misdemeanor which obviously has its own additional implications if true (record, future employment prospects diminished, etc...) The double-standard and the blatant, smug, "we-don't-have-to-do-anything-to-help-with-traffic" attitude on the part of the popo around here really bugs me - I see MA state cops all the time blasting along the freeway at 80-90 mph - no lights, no siren. They'll ride right up on people's asses 6" off their bumper to "encourage" them to get out of their special (left) lane too. Complete dickheadedness. At least in CA I'd routinely see the CHP actively participate in trying to keep traffic moving by running breaks and helping to clear wrecks quickly. Here it's just not that way at all - they'll sit on the side of the road picking their nose while drivers stew and steam in bumper-to-bumper traffic 20' away. "It's not my job - and I have union protection" is a VERY pervasive attitude. It's really, really blatant.

[CalPersFatCat]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

A co-worker who rides as well got nailed last year for exactly that - he said the cop pulled onto the shoulder / "breakdown lane" and blasted up the road to catch up to him

It never occurred to me that a police officer would drive that fast on the emergency shoulder just to catch up to somebody to write a ticket.

Thats insane.

[BeyGon]

They don't bother me, I used to do it myself. Bicycles bother me more, they take up the lane, make it impossible to pass, run stop signs and lights.

[Targa Me]

I've ridden a street bike, here in CA, for years; I got over 460,000 miles under my belt.
Splitting lanes is only way to go.
Yes, there are jerks on bikes, but there are also good folks on bikes too. Just like cars, you good drivers and bad.
Splitting lanes is actually the safest way to ride when there's sufficient traffic.

[mikester]

Very carefully

[wdfifteen]

The OP sounds more like a problem with craphead riders than lane splitting per se. I'll bet those guys are menaces to the highway no matter how many wheels they have.

[Baz]

[Jim Richards]

I'm getting more used to it. Except the guys that are lane splitting by driving through or crossing the two pairs of double yellow lines that separate the HOV lane from the #1 lane. That's illegal, so many drivers aren't expecting someone to come through there. Also, the speeds are already high, so it's simply nutty.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by AZ_porschekid

Just back from 2,000 mile road trip from Northern California for a workshop. Used a rental, and yet someone on a POS motorcycle messed up the mirror lane splitting. SOB doesn't even look back, and just keeps going! Gone before I can read the last 4 digits of his plate.

If I was in my truck I would have centered him like the last white tail.

How do you guys live with it? They're ridiculous. Another one flips through the two lane HOV. Almost rear ends a panel van stopped. Cuts it wide, and then barely escapes the car on the other side of the double yellow. That kid had inches!


I will stick to Arizona.

Please do stick to AZ. We don't need any more drivers who thinks, "I'm gonna show that moto guy..."

Consider this - how many jerk-off car drivers do you see? People who cut you off, tailgate, etc? It's not 100%. Same with motorcycle riders.

Lanesplitting is essential for people who ride in CA. We have the worst traffic in the country (TomTom Names Los Angeles as the U.S. City With the Worst Traffic - Fortune). Anything that reduces density helps (mass transit, bicycles, motorcycles, telecommuting).

For a rider, keeping in motion is important for the bike and the rider. Bikes have small radiators and can overheat quickly, even on cool days. Riders are usually (if they're sane), in full gear, so a "nice sunny day" for a driver, sitting in their air conditioned car turns into the potential of heat stroke for a rider sitting in traffic.

In the last year I've ridden about 11K miles, drove my car about 3K miles. I end up lane splitting on almost every ride, usually on the freeway where it is safest, but also on certain multi-lane surface streets where it is possible and horribly gridlocked (e.g. PCH).

Many motorists are courteous and will slide a bit over to give a motorcycle essentially a "lane" between lanes. I ride about 10-20 mph faster than traffic is going, and there there are no issues - EXCEPT for:

1. the driver on their cell phone who is drifting around then corrects when they get their nose out of their ****** phone.

2. the driver that thinks lane splitting is "cheating" or "wrong" and either slowly moves over to *block* the bike, or worse, makes a quick maneuver to try and teach them a lesson. Amazing that a human being would want to try and kill someone (because that is what can happen to the person on the bike) because they're passing them...

Some motorcyclists are idiots and lane split in an unsafe manner. Just like some drivers are idiots and do things in an unsafe manner (*cough* anyone who uses a cell phone or fiddles with their GPS while driving). They make it more difficult for those of use (the majority) who do things in a sane manner.

[speeder]

One of these days I'll post a GoPro video of filtering, ("lane splitting"), through L.A. traffic on surface streets and freeways. It not only makes sense and is relatively safe but it's the only way to get around quickly in a crowded city. I'm not going to repeat myself since this subject comes up here like clockwork, do a search for better threads.

I'd bet anything that the OP was hugging the side of his lane, (left side if I'm betting), for no fking reason when every other car on the road was properly in the center of their lane. I've never taken a tape measure to a freeway lane but there is room for two 18 wheelers next to each other and still a bike can go between them. No one naturally drives 12" away from the car next to them at freeway speeds, (no one), but it's amazing that some fools drift over closer when traffic stops or slows down. 9 times out of ten, they have out-of-state plates and/or are deeply involved with their smart phone screen.

I've never broken someone's mirror but I've slapped a few and spun them around to wake people from their text messaging. All cars have mirrors that swivel on their base. I've actually mellowed-out, though, life is too short to be angry on the road. I just wait until I can get through, sometimes telling them to move over. I've luckily never encountered someone actively trying to kill me with their car but I've read about these incidents and knew someone who died on the wrong end of an encounter like that many years ago. A person on a bike cannot kill a car driver with their vehicle but the opposite is easily done. It's a completely uneven force. People using cars as weapons, (except in self defense), deserve to die on the spot.

[Seahawk]

The TomTom article was fascinating: Los Angeles is number 10 when ranked globally.

Can you imagine the Charlie Foxtrot in Mexico City?