Lane Splitting – IOTW Report

Lane Splitting

30 Comments on Lane Splitting

  1. That’s not really lane splitting, it’s reckless driving, or at least reckless driving while lane splitting. By simply calling it lane splitting you’re framing lane splitting as a bad thing. Responsible lane splitting saves lives and it should be legal for the entire country, not just California.

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  2. Oddly lane splitting was kind of a gray area in Texas until recently. Not really legal, not explicitly illegal until 2023. One of the first things I noticed moving to Texas 20+ years ago, was helmets were optional, and motorcycles didn’t split lanes. In the last 5 or so years since half of !!?!@#%$! California followed me here… I can pick out the new arrivals because they try and lane split, and they get pulled over quickly.

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  3. I haven’t driven a motorcycle since I accidentally popped a wheelie on a friend’s 2-stroke when I was about 10. My understanding of CA law was that they could go maybe 15 mph faster than traffic (still under speed limit of course). So zooming through traffic was never, ever, legal. Don’t know about SC law where I am now.
    One odd part was that it was illegal to go down wide-open shoulders but legal to split lanes. Safety thing I suppose, but it seemed that going down a shoulder would be safer.

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  4. There are old fools, and there are bold fools.
    But there are NO old, bold fools.

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  5. Had a biker buddy when I lived in CA, everybody called him Bulletproof.
    He survived his live in girlfriend emptying a .38 in him as he slept.
    We called it shooting the white, when traffic was backed up you could, legally, drive between lanes.
    Some assholes thought it was funny to open then quickly shut their door, little un-nerving.
    Bulletproof kept a large ball peen hammer on his handle bars, you can guess the rest.

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  6. @BFH:

    Lane splitting does nothing for “traffic congestion.”

    It actually does, just not very much.

    If 4+ wheel traffic is stopped, motorcycles can split the lane and get off the freeway. Subtracting those 2-wheelers helps a little.

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  7. BFH, ever hear of a motorcyclist being rear-ended because cars don’t see them? It’s the reason why there are campaigns all over the place “START SEEING MOTORCYCLES,” and the like. Look up the Cali law on lawful lane splitting. This video is NOT lane splitting. There are laws governing when it’s okay to split. It’s primary reason is to avoid being rear-ended. Not traffic congestion. Although, if you put all the motorcycles in cars, the roads would certainly be more congested.

  8. Interesting – looked up CA law, which was updated in 2016. It specifically legalizes it… and asks CHP for guidance.
    The CHP’s guidelines state that motorcyclists should only split the lane when traffic flows at 40 MPH or less. Also, they should not travel more than 10 MPH over surrounding traffic.

    So, to quote the pirate, ‘It’s more of a guideline…’
    But it is also pretty clear that the intended purpose is for negotiating jammed traffic, only.

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  9. LCD, right and jammed roads are when motorcycles get rear-ended. When traffic slows on a highway from 55 MPH (let’s be honest, it’s slowing from 80 MPH) to 40 MPH and under, a biker can split between cars instead of being a sitting duck for the goof behind him looking at his smarty phone.

  10. I have ridden in California. The last time I was on a Harley Electraglide. When I was on a cruiser I would do the 25mph or less lane splitting in heavy traffic but not on the bagger. That is primarily to keep the engine cool. I do believe that motorcycles should filter to the front at a red light.

    As a rule of thumb in moving traffic I will be in the fast lane trying to stay away from cages.

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  11. There was a brat pack in the Akron area that rode like on congested Route 8. One of the jerks killed himself doing stupid stunts. Good riddance. He came too close to killing others. His little buddies disappeared after that.

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  12. Yes, motorcyclists are just ducking between cars to stay protected from being rear-ended. They are totally not driving between cars like they are in a perpetual passing lane carved out especially for them.

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  13. Sorry.. but facts are facts.
    76% of Motorcycle Accidents Are a Collision From the Front
    When motorcycle accidents happen, they usually involve a motorcyclist being hit from the front rather than rear-ended. Just 7% of two-vehicle crashes involving a motorcycle occurred when the motorcyclist was struck from behind. More than two thirds (76%) were head-on collisions.

    https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/motorcycle-accident-statistics/#:~:text=76%25%20of%20Motorcycle%20Accidents%20Are,front%20rather%20than%20rear%2Dended.

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  14. I guess 7% of motorcycle accidents will always go unavoided thanks to no protection from behind.

    Why don’t you post a video of a thug shooting another thug in the ass during a driveby and title the post, “2nd amendment.”

  15. As a former biker in my early 20s, lane splitting was just a way of being “special”. Above and beyond the hoi polois.

    Yeah, I was one of those guys that would head nod to another biker on a fast bike to race between the slow cagers on a highway. Zipping in and out of traffic lanes was a thrill I didn’t get elsewhere.

    This attitude is what leads to “special” accidents that would not have happened without that attitude.

    Fortunately I had enough sense to quit before I left my only son, at that time, fatherless.

    Thank you Jesus for watching over me even at my dumbest times.

    Lately, when a lane splitter zooms by me in stalled traffic, and I am startled by the unexpected sudden event, I thank God no one happens to be trying to change lanes while he’s being reckless.

    It really isn’t up to their skill whether they live or not. Pure luck.

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