Quantcast

Motorcyclists, do you split lanes?

  • Come enter the Ridemonkey Secret Santa!

    We're kicking off the 2024 Secret Santa! Exchange gifts with other monkeys - from beer and snacks, to bike gear, to custom machined holiday decorations and tools by our more talented members, there's something for everyone.

    Click here for details and to learn how to participate.

If you ride a motorcycle, do you slpit lanes?

  • I usually split lanes in traffic.

    Votes: 20 43.5%

  • I would never do this.

    Votes: 13 28.3%

  • Lane splitting is illegal in my state. I don't do it.

    Votes: 8 17.4%

  • Lane splitting is illegal in my state, but I do it anyway.

    Votes: 5 10.9%
  • Total voters
    46
sunny

sunny

Grammar Civil Patrol
Jul 2, 2004
1,107
0
Sandy Eggo, CA
Boy, there's nothing like splitting lanes for a solid 20-minute stretch of I-5 in Friday commuter traffic to get your five senses standing on end (the whole commute was about 40 min, with substantial patches of heavy traffic).

In CA, lane splitting, where you ride between cars in traffic, is legal.

If you ride a motorcycle, do you split lanes in traffic?
 
SofaKingBanned

SofaKingBanned

Monkey
Aug 31, 2006
347
0
whoa! Legal?

I split "lanes" on occassion. Usually when I'm at a light, near the front, want to turn right, I'll ride between the cars and sidewalk/edge of road.

But I wouldn't do it in moving traffic just cuz people here change lanes often without warning. Sometimes, without warning even to themselves.
 
LeRoy

LeRoy

Monkey
Apr 11, 2002
375
0
Wellington - NZ
I do it here in Korea but have toned down the "aggressive" nature of my riding lately due to several close calls and motorists with no regard for my life. As for the legality of it... I don't know what it would take to get a traffic ticket in this country. Running reds seems to ba an alright thing to do, even in front of a cop, as long as you do it "safely". The roads here are mental.
 
stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
41,165
10,105
the motorcyclists who have the faux mohawks on their helmets are the best.

The way 99% of them ride their motorcycles makes it really hard for me to want to pay attention to where they are on the road.
 
DHS

DHS

Friendly Neighborhood Pool Boy
Apr 23, 2002
5,094
0
Sand, CA
i do it on my bicycles all the time. motobike would be scary. come NYC, its not legal, but people do it all the time. hell i've seen cars do it there
 
M

Mike Stone

Chimp
Jul 15, 2002
55
0
Danbury CT
I've ridden motorcycles 350,000 miles in the past 38 years (30 years on the street). I lane split when there is stop and go traffic on the highway because I can often save 20-40 minutes on a trip during heavy traffic periods or when traffic is backed up for a accident or lane closure. It is very dangerous. One needs to use a high level of concentration and anticipate what others may do in front of you.

One tip is to wait a minute or two after traffic stops before lane splitting. This is because most of the lane changing activity takes place in the first couple of minutes after highway traffic stops (observation, not a scientifically proven statement).

If you are looking for motorcycle safety tips and the most informative road tests/accessory reviews/motorcycle reliability info, be sure to subscribe to Motorcycle Consumer News. It is not available on newstands, and costs more than say Cycle World/Motorcyclist, but there is a lot of practical info that will save you money and hassles.
 
B

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
DHS said:
i do it on my bicycles all the time. motobike would be scary. come NYC, its not legal, but people do it all the time. hell i've seen cars do it there
Click to expand...
I do it here too...Popo occasionally gives me dirty looks, but doesn't do anything about it.
 
Trainwreck

Trainwreck

Turbo Monkey
Aug 10, 2005
1,585
0
Med. to Well-Done in Phx
When I used to ride I loved lane splitting in CA. Used to do it a lot in the LA area and never had any type of problem. It was always nice to roll up to the head of the line at a red light.
 
Jeronimo

Jeronimo

Monkey
Jul 11, 2006
241
0
behind that boulder
Trainwreck said:
Used to do it a lot in the LA area and never had any type of problem.
Click to expand...
From 1986 to 1988 I lived in Anaheim and worked in Buena Park, using the 5 between the Brookhurst St. and Artesia Blvd. exits to commute to and fro. At the time, I rode a 1982 Honda XL-500. It's light weight and high rider position made splitting the lanes a lot easier than most bikes. One day on the way home I decided to ride a wheelie while splitting lanes. Traffic was stopped dead from a SigAlert and I jst decided to get stupid for a minute. I pulled off about 200 yards worth before letting the front end back down and squirreling the rest of my way home. The funniest part? Two people who knew me saw that stunt and called me that evening. One was a friend of mine and he called to say how badass it was and he noticed other cagers tripping out about it as well. One of the other cagers who saw me and called was my mom. She wasn't too happy about it all...
 
bikenweed

bikenweed

Turbo Monkey
Oct 21, 2004
2,432
0
Los Osos
I've smacked SUV and truck mirrors with my own mirrrs on 101 splitting lanes a little too close and sloppy.

It can be safer to split lanes at a stoplight. A very common and often tragic accident happens when a car driver fails to see the red light the motorcyclist is waiting for, doesn't stop, and plows right into the stopped rider. If you can split lanes to the front, this won't happen to you unless you're the only one there. Then just leave it in first, hold the clutch, and watch your ass. However, then you're also the first one to cross the intersection, and putting yourself at another risk: getting T-boned by a red light runner.
 
-dustin

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
i hope i run over a lane splitter some day. i was driving from Dallas not too long ago, going 80 while passing a few cars. ****ers lane split between me, and the cars on the right. scared the **** out of me, as i didn't see them at all, and there was a barrier on my left. i wanted to swerve so badly. first it was a crotch rocket. then a Gold Wing (they were seperated by 5' or so).

i don't lane split when i'm riding my bicyle.
 
Wumpus

Wumpus

makes avatars better
Dec 25, 2003
8,161
153
Six Shooter Junction
the Inbred said:
i hope i run over a lane splitter some day. i was driving from Dallas not too long ago, going 80 while passing a few cars. ****ers lane split between me, and the cars on the right. scared the **** out of me, as i didn't see them at all, and there was a barrier on my left. i wanted to swerve so badly. first it was a crotch rocket. then a Gold Wing (they were seperated by 5' or so).
Click to expand...

Edit -- whoops -- upon further research lane splitting is still not legal in Texas.
 
-dustin

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
biggins said:
you are a dick...plain and simple.........welcome to ignore....asshole...
Click to expand...
nevermind, you can't read it anyway.

to everyone else, i don't actually hope to run over a lane splitter. that might hurt my car. i wouldn't sympathize if one were injured in the act of splitting under the conditions that i mention in my post, though. i feel the same towards cyclists that run stop signs and red lights, too.
 
DirtyMike

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
DRB said:
If I squish a rider who is spliting lane am I responsible?
Click to expand...
Unfortunatly, yes you would be responsible. Only if the person was "Splitting" leagally. Here in CA rules are fairly basic for this, Properly called Lane sharing, for those who are trying to look it up in teh drivers code.


Rule number one, you cannot exceed more than 15 MPH faster than traffic.

Rule two, you cannot exceed the speed limit of where you are.

Rule three, and this is the one that gets people in trouble, Lane sharing my only be done when a reasonable amount of saftey Exists.

Small description for some here, you CANNOT roll back and forth across the lane divider, doing so is Illeagal and you can me ticketted.

If trafic is moving at the speed limit, you CANNOT leagally share lanes

If two cars are side by side, and a reasonable amount of safety does not exsist, And that safety is decided by the HP that sees you, you cant split the lane.

Now little Theory vs reality. If your not jacking traffic up, chances are CHP wont even look twice at you unless your speeding. More than a few of my CHP friends have told me the same thing.
 
sunny

sunny

Grammar Civil Patrol
Jul 2, 2004
1,107
0
Sandy Eggo, CA
the Inbred said:
nevermind, you can't read it anyway.

to everyone else, i don't actually hope to run over a lane splitter. that might hurt my car. i wouldn't sympathize if one were injured in the act of splitting under the conditions that i mention in my post, though. i feel the same towards cyclists that run stop signs and red lights, too.
Click to expand...
Well, golley, thanks for clearing that up.
 
A

avalanche165

Monkey
Aug 15, 2006
111
0
i only do it when im running from the cops, intoxicated, and carrying a few baggies of blow.

seriously, i don't do it, too many factors involved, too many out of my control. to those who do, be careful, ride safe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom