SB 288 - Motorcycle "lane splitting" bill

[Glock4ever]

Don't see enough motorcycles on the road in Texas to buy the traffic argument.
It does work for traffic though in a place like Bangkok. Sometimes a normal taxi will take an hour in traffic but a motorcycle taxi will take 10 minutes splitting lanes.

Typical view of a Bangkok street.(not my photo)

[Liberty]

Don't see enough motorcycles on the road in Texas to buy the traffic argument.

You don't drive Houston rush-hour traffic much do you?

[bnc]

Don't see enough motorcycles on the road in Texas to buy the traffic argument.
It does work for traffic though in a place like Bangkok. Sometimes a normal taxi will take an hour in traffic but a motorcycle taxi will take 10 minutes splitting lanes.

Typical view of a Bangkok street.(not my photo)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s_wck7BMiM0/T ... affic1.jpg

If there aren't enough bikes on the road for lane splitting to noticeably reduce traffic, then there are also not enough bikes on the road for lane splitting to cause a significant increase in accidents/chaos on the roads. If the argument for it is invalid then so is the argument against it.

That said, I think passing a lane splitting bill would result in quite a few more motorcycles on the roads. I think someone already posted the Belgian study that showed that if 10% of cars were replaced by motorcycles it would reduce traffic by 40% (in a country where they can split).

[RHenriksen]

Don't see enough motorcycles on the road in Texas to buy the traffic argument.

But more people would leave their car at home and dust off the motorcycle that had previously been left in the garage.

Also, more existing riders would be willing & able to wear more protective gear in summer w/o concerns of heat stroke if they can rely upon a little airflow instead of sitting & baking.

[Glock4ever]

Don't see enough motorcycles on the road in Texas to buy the traffic argument.

But more people would leave their car at home and dust off the motorcycle that had previously been left in the garage.

Also, more existing riders would be willing & able to wear more protective gear in summer w/o concerns of heat stroke if they can rely upon a little airflow instead of sitting & baking.

Could be. Using California and Belgium as an example might not be that good.
Look around continental Europe with the exception of Germany and you will primarily see very small cars. Ditto for the Los Angeles freeways there are a lot of hybrid cars and other small ones but not as extreme as Belgium.

Get on a freeway in DFW or Houston and every other bubba is making payments on a 3/4 ton pickup they can't afford with trailer mirrors popping out almost into the next lane.

So I would say the safety factor should also be considered.

[NNT]

Don't see enough motorcycles on the road in Texas to buy the traffic argument.

But more people would leave their car at home and dust off the motorcycle that had previously been left in the garage.

Also, more existing riders would be willing & able to wear more protective gear in summer w/o concerns of heat stroke if they can rely upon a little airflow instead of sitting & baking.

Add me to that list. I hung up my jacket and helmet as my daily commute after getting 8 more stop lights, and permanent construction on my ride. Just way too much stop and go to feel safe (whatever safe means on two wheels). Let me split lanes, I would be back on it, and wear my gear in the summer. The last straw before giving up the bike for me was it started overheating on a regular basis sitting in traffic. Regarding truck mirrors, never been an issue. I rode in the Sacrament area, very agricultural, and not over-run by hybrids... If there is not space, I don't go between them. When traffic speed picks up, I get back in line. Watch for blind spots. Read the drivers, how they check mirrors, hand position on steering wheel, etc. It is amazing how well you can predict their lane changes. Don't cruise next to cars, cruise in the gaps and move ahead when ready with purpose. Just like everything else, there are safe ways and stupid ways to do it.

[Sport Coach]

I rode motorcycles cross country for years. Lane splitting was nice in California and at the time, early 90s, it was legal to lane split when traffic was going 15 MPH or slower. It was VERY nice to get through traffic especially to avoid baking in the sun. At times, however I would find that once traffic started moving again I'd still be lane splitting at 45 MPH. I'm all for it. I would hope there would/will be some advertising letting people know it was legal so car drivers don't feel road rage by "rogue bikers cheating the traffic laws." As said above, it does add a bit to the motorcyclist's awareness and personal responsibility for safety. BTW I also took riders courses to ensure I was doing all I could to "keep the rubber side down."

[bigtek]

I would hope there would/will be some advertising letting people know it was legal so car drivers don't feel road rage by "rogue bikers cheating the traffic laws." As said above, it does add a bit to the motorcyclist's awareness and personal responsibility for safety.

[NNT]

There have never been any laws regulating top speed or differential speed in CA for lane splitting. The CHP used to have guidelines posted on their site but have since taken them down. As we all know from pirates, guidelines are not enforceable while code is...

[thunderarms]

I don't know if any of you ride...I'm on a Harley Davidson ultra limited...That to me looks awfully narrow. can't wait to see what happens when a novice takes out someones side view mirror or some irritated jackass who does not know the law opens his car door when a bike approaches.

[NNT]

I have seen cars squeeze a gap to disallow a rider to go through, but in my years of lane sharing I never saw a car door open, or even threaten it. My bike had louder than stock pipes, and even then most cars did not know I was there until passing their front tire. The flip side of that is since they were unaware of me, my safety was 100% on me. Never have I bumped a mirror. It is not for everyone, but I am a supporter.

edit - to add a note:

95% of my lane sharing was on freeways. In town it is more dicey because drivers are looking for stores, driveways, jumping lanes more, etc. Just a lot more distraction on surface streets.

[Glockster]

I don't know if any of you ride...I'm on a Harley Davidson ultra limited...That to me looks awfully narrow. can't wait to see what happens when a novice takes out someones side view mirror or some irritated jackass who does not know the law opens his car door when a bike approaches.

Exactly my concern. I ride a Yamaha Stratoliner and there is no way that I'm fitting that 1900cc cycle through gaps like that, especially given that it's frankly tiring on your clutch hand and throttle grip trying to slow maneuver about a thousand pounds for any length of time. It's been awhile since my last trip to CA, but what I do remember of that and seeing lane splitting is that it is much like one of the above videos posted where cycles are riding through bus stops and lanes, loading zones, into a parking space to get by - which I would think would fall into the category of not being a part of the actual roadway. But I'll make a deal here, in that I'm willing to support this law when I see existing laws actually enforced. By that I mean that you can see distracted driving all the time where for example, someone is texting and because they aren't really paying attention to driving and are leaving huge gaps between them and the car in front. And so on. IMHO, there is plenty of congestion created and sustained because of bad drivers. Enforce all of those issues and we'd have much less of a problem.

[tbrown]

While we're at it, can we remove the archaic prohibition against passing on the right on a highway, considering that a motorcycle going between two other vehicles is passing one of them on the right?

[parabelum]

The temperament of many drivers would be enough for me not to lane split. I can see some jerk fed up with traffic "accidentally" opening his door or just slightly positioning his vehicle to one side just to see what's happening with the traffic ahead. All purely "accidental" and with no ill intent, of course.

Would next bill address prohibition of door opening while in traffic?

[WTR]

I was hit by a "lane splitter', so I vote no.