Please, no...

[eddiememphis]

I have been riding on the street for about 30 years. 150k or so miles. When I lived in Seattle, a Suzuki 550 was my only transportation.

I wear gear every ride- dress for the crash, not for the ride. I don't do wheelies. I don't dress like a pirate and go to the bar.

The key to safely riding is awareness. As stated above, ride like everyone is out to kill you. It doesn't matter how good of a rider you are, physics dictates in a collision with any car, the car will win.

Graveyards are full of bikers that had the right of way.

I have limited my in-town riding over the past decade or so due to the ubiquity of cell phones. I drove a 4000 pound truck and often feel unsafe in traffic. On a 400 pound BMW it can be terrifying.

Many people do not like riders, as evidenced by some comments above. The hooligan crowd, the loud pipes guys and others portray a selfish image that creates a negative image in many- including myself.

I ride quiet bikes. I was in a neighborhood and a little boy saw me coming and stuck his fingers in his ears. I felt bad for that kid. When I was his age, I would run up to motorcycles, not fear them.

That is my unnecessarily long winded way of saying lane splitting is a bad idea.

It will further the notion that riders are ego driven fools that have no respect for anyone else.

It is dangerous for the rider since many in traffic are angry and watching a motorcycle ride between cars can be a trigger for action.

Often times drivers will narrow the gap to stop the rider. There is always the prospect of winning a "door prize", or having a beverage or worse tossed at them.

[eddiememphis]

Weinberg is only proposing a study be made. He has not put forth any legislation allowing it.

[.455_Hunter]

Weinberg is only proposing a study be made. He has not put forth any legislation allowing it.

True, but his opinion on the matter is clear in the first sentence of the article...

If Rep. Ron Weinberg, R-Loveland, gets his way, motorcyclists would be allowed to weave between cars in traffic.

[sbgixxer]

That's called filtering and is an entirely different thing. Any biker that sits at red lights constantly worried that someone is going to rear end him needs new hobby, he's too scared for this one.

Call it whatever you want, it's all handled under, "lane splitting".

It's not about being too "scared", you take the bad with the good. That's my least favorite part of riding, I'd like to limit it and this law would do that. Living in Easter CA, you might want to prepare yourself for the, "decrease in safety".

[theGinsue]

https://www.9news.com/article/news/l...0-1a4917f087b1

How many more dumbass ideas do we have to try here?

This time, it's an R promoting stupid crap.

Lane splitting is one of the most self-serving, "who cares about anybody else on the road" agendas in existence. Just because you and your bike are "hot" is not justified validation. I had the pleasure of first being on the receiving end of this novel parlor trick on I-5 in San Diego- Plenty of idiots playing thread the needle.

I am sure some of you folks thinks it's a great idea, but I ain't one of y'all.

Why should they stay stuck in a traffic jam if they can move between cars?
What are they taking away from you?
Live and let live.

On a side note, I guess I?ll need a skinnier bike. Not sure my bagger would even fit between cars around here.

People think of the dude doing 60, splitting lanes when traffic is at 15. Yes, that guy is dumb and given the time, it'll bite him. Where it really makes our existence safer is when coming to a red light. Instead of waiting behind a car and watching your mirrors until the person behind you finally looks up from their cell phone and screeches to a halt behind you, you can split traffic right to the red light. Then when green, you're gone and on your own.

I rode for over 20 years and finally stopped after my first street bike wreck.

I rode an air cooled bike in 100+ degree temps in the Midwest, dealing with traffic and never had a problem with overheating, ever. Granted, the traffic I was in was not highway backlogs like L.A. or even I-25 on the weekends when there's an accident or a major event going on somewhere, but standard side streets.

I learned to ride with respect for my own safety as well as the safety of others on the road. And while the bulk of motorcyclists on the road still ride like this, I'm seeing an increasing degree of outright dangerous behavior from motorcyclists. Just in the last 2 months (yeah, during the winter when motorcyclists are fewer than in the warmer months) I can't count the number of motorcyclists I've watched zipping in and out of extremely narrow gaps of traffic. In this same period I've watched 2 occasions where a cyclist rode wheelies for 1/2 mile+ in semi-congested (yet good moving) traffic. About a month ago I watched a rider on a fairly new beautiful fully dressed Harley stand up on the seat of his bike and ride it like that for more than 1/4 mile in light to moderate traffic. In each of these cases there was ZERO consideration for others on the road. If folks will do these clearly illegal things without consideration for others, what can we expect from someone who feels entitled to lane split?

A few years back the outgoing Colo Spr city street architect bragged that her major accomplishment while in that position was narrowing the lanes in town to reduce speeding. Since then I regularly look at the width of Colo Spr streets. Just a couple of weeks ago I was sitting behind a 250/2500 series pickup and noted that their mirrors reached the inner edge of both lines for their lane. The lanes are too narrow for the cars/trucks that use them without having to consider that a motorcyclist might want to squeeze through to get a better position through the traffic. The narrowness of the lanes makes it so any minor inattentiveness will cause a driver to at least be on the lane line. Any they want to allow a motorcyclist to try to squeeze through? How many broken mirrors will result from this when cyclists feel their right to lane split was being violated by the uncaring car/truck drivers? (I won't touch on how the small motorcycle license plates, when you can see them at all, are impossible to read as a motorcycle zooms past).

Over 80% of the drivers on the road pull far too close to the vehicles in front of them when stopped in traffic (and while in motion). My daily driver is an F250 Super Duty. I like to "shit & get" and prefer not to have to sit behind a row of traffic waiting at a light any more than the next person. I don't want my vehicle smashed into from behind any more than anyone else either. Why can't I just force my way between lanes of traffic to get up to the front of the traffic to be the first to go when the light changes? I guarantee that once the light changes I'll move as quickly as I can to pull away from the traffic to reduce my chances of being in an accident by some unwitting driver. So what if I'm better protected in my truck than a motorcyclist - we both made the choice of what vehicle to get onto the roads with that day & I don't want to sit in traffic any more than they do, so...

Thing is, everyone on the road - including motorcyclist (and bicyclists!)- need to follow the same rules of the road for EVERYONE'S safety. If we're all obligated to the same rules we have a better understanding of what to expect and how to avoid an accident. When you start making exceptions for this group or the other the expectations quickly change and the probability of hazardous situations jumps dramatically.

At the end of the day, I couldn't give a rats ass about someone doing something stupid on the road and getting themselves toasted for it (that's for them and their families to deal with) - until it effects me and my family. Then, I have serious issues with it. So, no, in case you couldn't tell, I'm absolutely NOT in favor of lane splitting.

[brutal]

I haven't ridden on the street in many years. last I owned a 2-wheeler was 1987, ridden daily to work weather permitting for about 3 years.

My stance is the only lane-splitting allowed should be on surface streets at red lights. Period.

[copfish]

Gives both the Strong Arm and Donor Alliance more business!

[def90]

I'm a pretty attentive driver and scan my mirrors all the time in traffic so that I can make a quick lane change if needed yet I've been completely surprised by lane splitters while driving out in LA that I had no idea were there until they were right next to me.

I get it, maybe let them do it but at the same time put the onus for wrecks on them.

[FoxtArt]

I second that....

It should be legal.

Only if there's an affirmative defense for anyone involved in an accident with a lane splitter protecting the other party(s) from civil and criminal ramifications.

I'm completely OK with more freedom. I used to ride as well and I did safely lane split in states that permitted it. Not as big of a deal as it was made out to be.

YET in our current society which idolizes victims, it needs to be a clear social contract, that a rider is aware of the dangers associated and takes personal responsibility for the outcome. E.G. Momma can't sue cause their sweet baby boy died while doing a wheely lane-splitting and going 30mph over traffic flow. Mr. Paralyzed for life is going to have to figure out his own shit because nobody else is going to be paying for it. Thats how it SHOULD work.

[eddiememphis]

Thats how it SHOULD work.

That's how it actually works...