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[Ironhorse]

Big Chuck,

At police motor-school they taught us that intersections are Kill Zones. The reason for the high threat level is on coming and cross traffic. At an intersection there is traffic coming at you, from both sides, and from behind. On a freeway, EVERYBODY is travelling in the SAME DIRECTION, and about the same speed. The number one cause of accidents is someone turning across your path. And that is most likely to happen at an intersection. The number one killer of Motor cops, (who ride more miles on both the freeway and the surface streets than most of us), is not high speed pursuit, not a gun fight, it's an intersection. Someone turns in front of them, or runs a red light. And they are on high profile Black and While patrol bikes that are made to be seen. I won't quote a statistic, but instead ask a question. Who here has been in an accident at an intersection. or known someone who has been in an accident at an intersection? Car or bike, it doesn't matter. I'll raise my hand and bet quite a few others will too. Followed by the question, who here has been sideswiped or clipped? Once again, car or bike, it doesn't matter. Not too many I think. Still not sure, go ask a motor cop which is more dangerous, riding a freeway, or going through an intersection.

I agree, motorcycling 101, keep enough distance, and an escape route. Now lets take those safety measures and increase them by removing ourselves from that space between cars altogether. Here in California traffic can go from 70mph to 15 and crawling in a matter of yards. A motorcycle that is already between lanes lowers their risk of getting hit from behind. They are already pre-positioned in the escape route.

Like ALL things motorcycle related, there are wise and proper ways to do things, and unwise and improper. If traffic is moving at 45-50 and above, speaking only for myself there is no need to lane filter, or split as it's often called. I would not, like some others, blast down that line at 75mph. In my opinion that is neither wise nor prudent. If traffic slows to a crawl, yes, I'll filter and split lanes at a reasonable speed. And I don't linger in traffic matching my speed to that of the cars around me. I travel faster, making it a point to pass cars as I filter through. I don't blow by them, but I do filter through at a faster speed.

Lastly, I do not force my luck. Most California drivers are courteous and actually scoot over a bit to let you ride by. It's nice when they do. However, if they do not, I do not force my luck. I wait. Sure enough, eventually a space will open up and allow me to filter through.

Like most California riders, I do not see lane filtering as a special privileged. I see it for what we have known it to be called, lane sharing. We're not running Code-3 lights and siren, we're not special, we are just sharing the lanes and filtering through.

I'd like to hear from other California members.

[2k]

On a trip to the wrong coast, my son and stayed in Portland on our northern leg bake to dealer in Seattle. Rented California bikes run like crap by the way......anyways we got in the morning rush, and when his bike went into limp we started splitting and I loved it. Wish the other states would remove their head from their rectal cavity. And BTW, Ironhorse was right, 98% of the cages were very cooperative, probably guessing high on that, but most for sure!!

[ak]

  I;ve got a friend who Split's Double-rig Simi's who are side by side in a sweeper. He pops out between the cabs at about 95mph. He tells me you have to go into it when the rear trailers are tight in order for the front trailer to be wide.  Iron horse (mark) had ride like a Pro  classes.  My friend can teach his Class and calls" it Ride like a dick"   Couldn't believe it when I saw him going for. 1st time was on 152 headed to HY-5

[JCZ]

As for getting rear-ended in traffic. You always leave enough room between you and the vehicle in front of you to get out of the way if necessary and keep an eye on your mirrors. That's motorcycling 101.
For me lane splitting is fine if traffic is stopped or nearly stopped. I question the wisdom of doing it at 60mph when traffic is doing 35-40mph.

I'm sure you didn't mean for this to be a funny comment but for those of us that have been riding the California freeways for all of our life....well when you have cars on either side of you, stopped, there is not "enough room between you and the vehicle in front of you to get out of the way".  That works in states where they don't have the traffic that we have but that doesn't work here.  Your safest bet is to keep moving when everybody else is stopped.  That's motorcycling 101! 

[bigchuck]

Ironhorse, First of all thank you for your service as a police officer. I agree that intersections are more deadly. And done properly lane splitting /filtering has its place. The problem comes when motorcyclists and motorists don't use their heads. If lane splitting is going to be allowed a law needs to be put in place and the public educated. Then you will only have to worry about the millions of visitors that come to California every year. I have to wonder why lane splitting is tolerated in one state and I believe legal in none. The Berkeley survey that helped them come to the conclusion that lane splitting is safe says that 7% have been involved in accidents and 20% in near accidents in the previous year. That's a 27% chance I won't be taking. I respect your experience and opinion. As a truck driver I have a better view than most and I believe that close to half of all motorists are distracted in some way most often is phone /text and I try not to rely on them to help keep me safe.

[SDCVO]

I'm sure you didn't mean for this to be a funny comment but for those of us that have been riding the California freeways for all of our life....well when you have cars on either side of you, stopped, there is not "enough room between you and the vehicle in front of you to get out of the way".  That works in states where they don't have the traffic that we have but that doesn't work here.  Your safest bet is to keep moving when everybody else is stopped.  That's motorcycling 101! 

I think it may be hard for people outside of CA to understand the whole lane splitting deal here. No doubt there are guys roaring between lanes at 50 MPH when traffic is at 5MPH but what this proposed law (and I believe what JC is taking about) is about is staying at a reasonable speed only when traffic is congested. Most people that live in CA and ride will agree with these studies that have been coming out that though it definitely takes concentration, it is much safer than stop and go staying in a lane. I live about 40 miles from my work and probably 3 times a week I see a car that has rear ended another though usually at slow speeds. On a bike, that slow speed rear end can be deadly. There are definitely times for me when I feel to lazy to split lanes as its just easier to stay in my lane when it is not hot out but then I hear tires squeal and get mad at myself for putting myself at risk.

[Ironhorse]

but then I hear tires squeal

Yup!

[smkymtnboy]

With that one I disagree.  For reasons of both practice and policy.

In practice if you move a lane to the left of the HOV lane or to the left of what is already an existing left lane it'll become a passing lane for those existing lanes.  Even if it's narrowed ostensibly for bike traffic only my fear is it would still become a lane with other vehicles regularly popping in and out when they see it not heavily used.  And it wouldn't be heavily populated as there's just not that much bike traffic.

Even more importantly, however, I think it's a bad policy idea.  As riders we really are the few.  We operate on a system designed for cars and trucks.  Things bigger than we are.  So we've actually got room.  We get to use that system and that room without any special attention being paid to us.  That's a good thing.  The last thing you want as a minority user of public services is a legislature paying you extra attention.  So what we want is for legislatures and administrative agencies to just leave us be. 

If they make a system safe for cars and trucks we can live on that system just fine.  But if we do things that stir the pot in some way and asks or forces legislative or administrative actions (especially expensive actions like an extra traffic lane) that are primarily or solely for "us" we start down a path that does us more harm than good.  Because if they watch us for one thing they will watch us for many more.  The follow-ons to that are more rules/guidelines/taxes/fees/enforcement.

So, with all proper citations to the "The Wild Angels" paraphrase,  we really are better off without a lot of undue, extra or special attention.  Just let us use the system, to ride our machines without being hassled or inordinately "assisted" by the man.  It's that kind of extra assistance that ends up biting you in the ass later.

dang, twolane i think you head the nail square on the head. outa sight outa mind! 

[coloradotom]

I very rarely split lanes but when I do it is when I decide it's safer to do that than just sit there. And I'll do that in any state I need to.

Splitting lanes is something everyone should know how to do. Doing it is another story, but it is a viable option to  get out of trouble if needed and having to do it for the first time under duress isn't a great idea.

[Ironhorse]

Here's the end result. No one is being forced to split lanes. I have passed many a rider just sitting in LA Traffic and that's okay with me. If they are more comfortable just idling away in slow and no-go traffic, good for them. When I moved to LA back in the mid 80's I thought lane splitting was nuts. But I learned, adjusted, and made my own decisions and choices.

[Rooster]

Moving to the front at the light is practiced and have been involved before on Nor Cal rides but cages seem to think we are taking cuts. I don't do this by myself but I have done the lane splitting and just a few miles over the slow speed or stopped traffic. I did however ride about 5-6 miles in the bicycle lane as well after sitting for 45 mins on one of our day rides in So Cal just to get out of there. We didn't know it was FREE TUESDAY AT THE FAIR.

[DesertHOG]

Moving to the front at the light is practiced and have been involved before on Nor Cal rides but cages seem to think we are taking cuts. I don't do this by myself but I have done the lane splitting and just a few miles over the slow speed or stopped traffic. I did however ride about 5-6 miles in the bicycle lane as well after sitting for 45 mins on one of our day rides in So Cal just to get out of there. We didn't know it was FREE TUESDAY AT THE FAIR.

LOL, you should see what the motorcycles do in India. Typically 10 to 12 rush up to the red light and push the two cars out of their way.

[Rooster]

That is crazy. They prolly hate mopeds there.

[kansaskim47]

I am a flatlander from Kansas. When we went to Ontario, Ca to join the Run For The Wall, Jim wanted to go see the ocean and get some sand for his girlfriend.
I am the gullible kind and I agreed to go with him after counseling him on California traffic.
The run to Huntington Beach was not too bad, just a few slow places, but the run back was something else. I had never split lanes, but had read about it and knew some of the (unwritten) rules. After sitting in one place several times and watching other bikes pass through, I explained to Jim what little I knew about it. As the bikes got warmer and warmer, I looked over at Jim and said "I'm willing if you are". We eased over to the HOV lane and watched several bikes (including several baggers) go by and then eased into the gap. I was amazed that most of the cages would move over in their lane to give us a little more room, but when the traffic began to move around 20-25 mph they were not as willing to let us through.
We made it back fine and Jim (retired police captain) commented that he had arrested people in Kansas for the same thing!
He also said "A true friend will do something stupid just to keep you company".
We survived, and added another experience to our repertoire.

[JCZ]

Now that was an entertaining story.....and you lived to tell it!