Arizona to Legalize Lane Splitting

Lane splitting is the single most mentally exhaustive things I ever do. Short of breaking some FAA regulations and trying to fly too low and beat some weather system to an airport, lane splitting requires as much if not more situational awareness than the most demanding phases of flight. It has its place and is useful when the going gets slow, but the guys that split 80 mph car traffic at 100 are asking for a ride to the morgue. To look ahead and attempt to anticipate what each car is going to (or might) do, then constitantly plan or position yourself to avoid the worst case scenarios just makes your brain tired :blink:

i'm invisable to all cars anyways imo...so if i get hit while lane splitting then i'm doing it wrong...when i get on a bike....whatever i choose to do is limited only by my respect for the other people on the road with me......not much by laws.......the law of common sense often is pitted against my desire to ride hard...but never i hope will my need to have fun exceed my need to respect others rights to saftey and an their own enjoyable day...........

lane splitting---traffic weaves

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parking lot detours and urban assualt moves are all well within my riding skills and don't pose a safety issue for others when peformed quickly and with little drama......lane splitting does however run the risk of starteling folks and my bikes can blast other drivers with a good scary sound burst when the right conditions exist....for this i often feel a tinge of assholes remorse....but so far ,not enought o bypass the advantages of skirting a traffic jam,or creating my own path........imo

Being a local here... I would not do this except for a given time when traffic is at a complete standstill 0mph...

Outside of that...

Yes, lane spitting is legal here in California BUT the law says it can be done when traffic is going 25 mph or slower and you cannot go more than 5 mph faster than the cars. This law was enacted so our air cooled bikes would not overheat in SoCal's famous freeway parking lots. However, I see bikes constantly splitting lanes even when traffic is going 50-70 mph. This is illegal and considered an unsafe lane change. But it is done all the time because a patrol car sure as hell can't chase you down in that traffic, can he? I've done some lane splitting and it is scary to say the least. But in bumper to bumper traffic at least you can keep moving.

Damn Rock you sure have little fat fingers

how could you tell...feel???


Kawickrice wrote:

Damn Rock you sure have little fat fingers

Bluemeanie wrote:

Yes, lane spitting is legal here in California BUT the law says it can be done when traffic is going 25 mph or slower and you cannot go more than 5 mph faster than the cars. This law was enacted so our air cooled bikes would not overheat in SoCal's famous freeway parking lots. However, I see bikes constantly splitting lanes even when traffic is going 50-70 mph. This is illegal and considered an unsafe lane change. But it is done all the time because a patrol car sure as hell can't chase you down in that traffic, can he? I've done some lane splitting and it is scary to say the least. But in bumper to bumper traffic at least you can keep moving.

EXACTLY MY POINT!!! This is the only time it makes sense. My brief yearly driving experiences have shown me that this law is widely abused. My family who work in the ER's tell me that most of the injuries that come in on bikes are from people who split lanes and get cut off by irate drivers. I can't verify this fact but it stands to reason after seeing bikes fly by me well over 30 miles an hour faster than I am going. That is a feeling that makes someone want to reflexively grab the wheel and change lanes immediately. I could see where some old lady has an infarction after she sharts because some knucklehead buzzes her door at ninety miles an hour and she causes a chain accident in which many people are seriously injured. California drivers make me not want to ride. If I lived there most likely I would stick to bicycles and automobiles. Nerve racking experiences of riding along the I5 just make me think that this is not a fun place to live if you love to ride motorcycles.

most roads are terrible....I-5 being one of my least favorites......but no one puts a gun to my head and makes me drive that route.....That major roads are bad is a true fact.. but really that's only becasue people are mean to each other and self centered.....that is always and everywhere unfortunately.......but driving in california or tibet...is not the point...both places have dangerous roads and both places have great scenic lonely roads that are safe and fun....so it is everywhere.....to rate california as unsafe by using I-5 as a gauge of the whole places roads is more than not fair...it is like comparing ohio by using I-80 as an example of the entire states roads.....I-5 should not be drivin period imho....i hate being on I-5 even in my cars ...but if your in the right mindset it is a gas kinda...but splitting lanes on the short section of Highway 0ne from say carmel to san fransico is way doable and if done at about 10-20 m.p.h ,not tooooo - anti social ,or on purpose scaring drivers type stuff...it rarely goes into three lane sections,and when it does ,or you do hit a commuters clog...it is only about a mile long section of clog and then clear road and away you go.......... wether to lane split on I-5 or on highway one is where natural selection may come into play and prevail......TT


b]saxjonz wrote:[/b]

Bluemeanie wrote:

Yes, lane spitting is legal here in California BUT the law says it can be done when traffic is going 25 mph or slower and you cannot go more than 5 mph faster than the cars. This law was enacted so our air cooled bikes would not overheat in SoCal's famous freeway parking lots. However, I see bikes constantly splitting lanes even when traffic is going 50-70 mph. This is illegal and considered an unsafe lane change. But it is done all the time because a patrol car sure as hell can't chase you down in that traffic, can he? I've done some lane splitting and it is scary to say the least. But in bumper to bumper traffic at least you can keep moving.

EXACTLY MY POINT!!! This is the only time it makes sense. My brief yearly driving experiences have shown me that this law is widely abused. My family who work in the ER's tell me that most of the injuries that come in on bikes are from people who split lanes and get cut off by irate drivers. I can't verify this fact but it stands to reason after seeing bikes fly by me well over 30 miles an hour faster than I am going. That is a feeling that makes someone want to reflexively grab the wheel and change lanes immediately. I could see where some old lady has an infarction after she sharts because some knucklehead buzzes her door at ninety miles an hour and she causes a chain accident in which many people are seriously injured. California drivers make me not want to ride. If I lived there most likely I would stick to bicycles and automobiles. Nerve racking experiences of riding along the I5 just make me think that this is not a fun place to live if you love to ride motorcycles.

I live in So Cal and lane share/split EVERY day and have done so on I-5 many times. I try to keep my speed down and I move over for faster bikes and let them go as fast as they want. It is HARD on your brain but I think that's good for you to challenge yourself now and then. I've been doing it for 30+ years and find some people try and cut you off but they have to readjust their mirror after I move it for them. More people move over to let you go.

Mark

If you want to, and you have the skill and the sack, why not lane split? Any crash between a bike and a car is a bad day for the bike, and every motorcyclist knows that...



Must we say no to everything people find fun in this country to protect its citizens from themselves?

I have split lanes since I started riding on the road... legal or not I enjoy it and accept the consequences of me actions weather it be a funeral or a fine. Such is life.