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.