Motorcycle lane splitting

[Hoser]

deleted post.

Lighten up Francis.

[Squeeze]

I ride. Been riding for years, both on and off road. When I'm on the bike, I do everything I can to make myself visible. I check lanes visually before changing. I always take an extra second before going through a green light when I'm first on the line. I've seen motorists blast through a red and almost hit a motorcycle. Taking that extra second could save my backside. My stance on "lane splitting" is that it is extremely dangerous for everyone on the road. I was hit & run on October 1st, 1998 on I-25. I had full riding gear on and only suffered a broken collar bone. Automobile drivers as a whole, do NOT look for motorcycles. I've seen cars come right over on a biker riding a loud ass Harley (Loud pipes save lives my ass). I've seen guys on sport bikes riding so carelessly and fast that a motorist changing lanes would likely not see them at first glance.

As it was mentioned earlier in a previous post, I too hate a majority of other motorists on the road because of their poor driving habits in the city. I attribute this to the mass influx of people moving here from just about every other state. As of recent, I've seen more motorcycle riders splitting lanes - at unsafe speeds and without care to other motorists. It's not legal here and for those who do it here and condone it, well...I'll send a "get well" card to you at the hospital because it's only a matter of time before an accident occurs.

[OtterbatHellcat]

Lighten up Francis.

Yeah,...I could a bit I suppose.

[TheSparkens]

I have been riding road bikes for a very long time and I go to work in Broomfield from Castle Rock every day. I do this on many roads. I see this almost always in the Denver area, Denver needs to get a team of their bikes out during the day and stop this crap, they don't need to start a chase they just need to get a plate number and issue a ticket via mail and be witness in court. One of the things they also need to enforce and is almost un-enforceable is slow traffic NEEDS TO KEEP RIGHT. If you want to drive the speed limit and below get over and if you stay in the left lane and cant or wont maintain your speed you should get a ticket, after all I will take mine in much the same way for speeding.

[theGinsue]

When I went through the MSF course, it was emphasized over and over that my safety was my responsibility.

Saying unconditionally that lane-splitting is "a sensible practice" is just more of the contemporary self-entitled trend of saying "this is sensible/logical/reasonable because it makes things more convenient for me ... to heck with the rest of you."

Lane splitters give ALL drivers/riders one more thing to have to monitor thereby reducing safety for all but most expecially for the rider. If you're on the road, you should be following the rules of the road, not demanding special rules -- that goes for autos, truck, motorcycles, bicycles, etc. I can find very little regarding laws or jurisprudence originating in California that I like or find logical/sensible/reasonable and legalized lane-splitting is no exception.

This post perfectly states my take on the situation as well. I despise lane splitting for safety reasons for everyone involved. If CO really wants to consider giving an extra right to motorcyclists to move past traffic in something that isn't considered legal for other vehicles because, well, "motorcycle", then I propose letting them use the shoulder to get around traffic, much like MA does with their "break down lane" usage. This keeps them out from between other vehicles who typically move within a couple feet of each other, gives them a wider field to manuever and reduces the risk to other motorists because they can't be bothered to sit in traffic like everyone else.

Before anyone accuses me of not understanding what it's like to ride let me tell you that I rode for more than 20 years before getting in my first street bike wreck - caused by another driver. That wreck almost ended my life and as such I will never ride in CO again. I had too many close calls leading up to that wreck from folks pulling over on top of me, braking for no reason, etc. I was always a careful and considerate rider and took my safety seriously, but it still caught up to me. Lane splitting it just asking for more risk to everyone involved.

[theGinsue]

I have been riding road bikes for a very long time and I go to work in Broomfield from Castle Rock every day. I do this on many roads. I see this almost always in the Denver area, Denver needs to get a team of their bikes out during the day and stop this crap, they don't need to start a chase they just need to get a plate number and issue a ticket via mail and be witness in court. One of the things they also need to enforce and is almost un-enforceable is slow traffic NEEDS TO KEEP RIGHT. If you want to drive the speed limit and below get over and if you stay in the left lane and cant or wont maintain your speed you should get a ticket, after all I will take mine in much the same way for speeding.

Amen to all of that.

People driving slow in the wrong lane are dangerous. People matching the speed of vehicles next to them back up traffic which increases the potential for accidents. I'm a bit of a lead foot, but typically only do up to about 5 over on I-25. I'm far from the fastest driver on the road and when I'm not passing, I move my ass over.

I also think more tickets for tail-gating need to be given out. I mean, DAMN, when I can't see your hood out of the rear view window of my little Civic and we're doing 70+ MPH, YOU ARE TOO CLOSE. Give me a freaking chance to get past the vehicle next to me and get moved over. And for those who tail-gate the driver who's essentially parked next to the vehicle in the next lane, it isn't going to make the driver move by you tail-gating them. For those folks, it's one of two things: either they're too wrapped up in themselves to recognize there are other drivers on the road or it's a control thing for them. Either way, tail-gating them won't get you the outcome you desire.

I wish CO had more programs requiring drivers convicted of careless driving (not so much the speeding thing as most everything else) to have to attend driver safety training. It seems the rules of the road are forgotten concepts for many drivers I see these days.

[OtterbatHellcat]

I don't think lane splitting is a good idea.

YMMV.

[CS1983]

Notice how us motorcyclists who have lane split where legal aren't throwing a spandex hissy, like the Lance Armstrong Wannabe crowd would if this were about the stupidity of a bicycling on the road and the absolutely dangerous nature of their presence?

FWIW, my only bike now is a TW200 and it's mechanically prohibitive to ride it on roads where lane splitting would be of any use.

[Gman]

Automobile drivers as a whole, do NOT look for motorcycles. I've seen cars come right over on a biker riding a loud ass Harley (Loud pipes save lives my ass).

It's not just motorcycles. I've wanted to get into riding, but just can't come to terms with drivers today. When they can't see your Chevy Tahoe, they sure can't see your bike. Many drivers are on their phones, and they just happen to be behind the wheel. I've seen drunks do a better job because their primary focus is in actually driving the car.

[wctriumph]

I love lane splitting. It should be legal in all 50 states. The only problem I ever had was I had to drive a car because of the weather and I started to try and split at the intersection from habit. Stopped just in time straddling two lanes. The Pinto was not going to fit between the pickup and the Caddy.