Sunday, February 06, 2011

Why Lane Splitting and "Filtering" Should Be Legal

So, if you're the kind of person that finds footage of motorcycle crashes disturbing... don't watch this.

The good news is our man is apparently OK, although I'd wager he was in shock when he walked off to the side of the road. The bad news is his Suzuki is smashed all to hell.

This is why it should be perfectly legal for a motorcyclist to zip to the front at stoplights, and to split lanes in slow traffic. Just sayin'.

8 comments:

Gary France said...

Wow. That is a lucky guy to walk away from that. The amount of damage to his bike is surprisingly high though.

mq01 said...

f@#$... wow... i cant tell you how many times i thought that was going to be me, and im sure everyone that rides can/will say the same.

lane splitting is legal in CA thankfully. but legal or not, i sit at stops in gear and at the far edge of the lane so i can move ahead/out of harms way if needed.

Oz said...

Amazing that the rider stood up and walked away. I am right with mq01 - stay in gear and at the far edge of the lane, watching my mirrors.

Canajun said...

Probably interrupted her text messaging too.
I've had this done to me on 4 wheels, and have had a couple of close calls on 2, so I'm all in favor of lane splitting - although it's illegal here in Ontario.

Troubadour said...

I agree with comments here to stay in gear, but also keep as far to the left as possible. When a rear-ender is inevitable or any accident I believe that most drivers instinctively brake and steer to the right.
I am all for lane splitting and filtering, but they don't necessarily have to make it legal, just make it not illegal.
Nice post, thanks for the reminder and we should all share it on our facebook pages.

Mark Spearman said...

She was sorry, so sorry. I hate to hear that out of them. They say they're sorry, but you can bet she was just as inattentive on her next drive and talking about how dangerous motorcycles were right after this. I wouldn't be surprised if she and her lawyer were contriving a story about how he somehow caused this.

The video shows how gear, even the gloves, come into play. The helmet is a GREAT device for this type of crash.

Lane splitting makes me nervous because cagers get upset that you're making headway and they're not. I've seen them swerve in tighter on bikes just out of spite. At a stoplight though, it would be great to be able to do.

Bluekat said...

Scary! Splitting/filtering scares me too, since I can't imagine riding in the space between cars, but it's better than getting hit.

As others have mentioned, I sit to the edge of the lane so, if I can react in time I can filter up. I'm not sure if I could even react quick enough though.

Ladybikerstuff said...

Splitting traffic in California but can be plenty dangerous.

I recently witnessed a car suddenly change lanes on the freeway, without signaling, and hit a motorcyclist who was splitting. No doubt the driver was tired of the stop and go traffic and thought the adjacent lane was moving faster. He chose to swerve on over without looking.

Thankfully, the biker was really paying attention and wasn't injured.