TX: Road-raging gun-toting motorcyclist shot by SUV driver

[ELB]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fatal-road-r ... 30813.html
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/loca ... 29613.html

Fort Worth leg of I-35.

Motorcyclist weaving in and out of traffic. Guy driving SUV with his kids onboard started changing lanes without seeing motorcyclist. Motorcyclist dodges, passes several vehicles then stops in lane blocking traffic. Motorcyclist walks back to SUV and points handgun, SUV driver tells him to put it down, he has kids in car. Motorcyclist continues to point gun at SUV, SUV driver pulls his gun and shoots motorcyclist several times. Motorcyclist helicoptered to hospital, later dies. Police recover motorcyclist's handgun, obtain witness statements. SUV driver cooperating with police, police calling it self-defense.

[RottenApple]

According to reports, he wasn't just weaving in and out of traffic, he was also lane splitting which is highly illegal in Texas.

[Redneck_Buddha]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

[AndyC1911]

Intimidation failed.

[ajwakeboarder]

According to reports, he wasn't just weaving in and out of traffic, he was also lane splitting which is highly illegal in Texas.

Yes and no. There is no law which specifically mentions lane splitting in Texas. The only law that comes close states that a vehicle must stay in it's own lane. Technically there is a lot of gray area there. In the summertime, air cooled motorcycles and some water cooled motorcycles will overheat if stuck in traffic. The only solution is to lane split or drive up the shoulder. I've personally done it past a motorcycle officer and he didn't hassle me about it.

[ajwakeboarder]

The absolute worst part about this story is the motorcyclist's dad's response to the situation. He posted on facebook that his son was murdered because of his skin color and that he was going to arm a group of people and get "justice". We now know where the motorcyclist got his poor decision making skills from.

[Paladin]

According to reports, he wasn't just weaving in and out of traffic, he was also lane splitting which is highly illegal in Texas.

ugh, that is so dangerous! Drove through Ft. Worth last week and a guy did that to me on the highway... he was about an inch from my driver side mirror as I was driving highway speeds and he was doing 20mph+ faster. Who knows, maybe the same dude?

People like that are inevitably going to get themselves killed. Glad he didn't take anyone with him.

[Tex1961]

According to reports, he wasn't just weaving in and out of traffic, he was also lane splitting which is highly illegal in Texas.

ugh, that is so dangerous! Drove through Ft. Worth last week and a guy did that to me on the highway... he was about an inch from my driver side mirror as I was driving highway speeds and he was doing 20mph+ faster. Who knows, maybe the same dude?

People like that are inevitably get themselves killed. Glad he didn't take anyone with him.

Drove from Plano to Glen Rose 2 weeks ago in our Motorhome, which put us going through Fort Worth... Holy Cow Batman... Idiots everywhere....

[Soccerdad1995]

According to reports, he wasn't just weaving in and out of traffic, he was also lane splitting which is highly illegal in Texas.

Yes and no. There is no law which specifically mentions lane splitting in Texas. The only law that comes close states that a vehicle must stay in it's own lane. Technically there is a lot of gray area there. In the summertime, air cooled motorcycles and some water cooled motorcycles will overheat if stuck in traffic. The only solution is to lane split or drive up the shoulder. I've personally done it past a motorcycle officer and he didn't hassle me about it.

Lane splitting in stopped traffic is kind of like driving a car on the shoulder in stopped traffic to take the next exit. It doesn't really hurt any of the other drivers, but they will still get mad at it most of the time.

But lane splitting when traffic is moving at 30+ MPH is an entirely different situation, especially when the lane splitter is going significantly above the speed limit. Personally, this irritates me, but I try to just brush it off. That said, I also don't go to extraordinary lengths before changing lanes to make sure there are no motorcycles where they should not be (talking about the latter scenario here).

[ELB]

Seems to me lane splitting is dangerous even in stopped traffic, but then it sort of makes sense, you're a big boy, you takes your chances that someone may shift suddenly, open a door, whatever. Go hither slowly and be prepared. It was legal in California, and I saw it alot, because there were a lot of traffic jams on the 405.

Lane splitting and weaving in and out in regular traffic just says to me he doesn't care about his or anyone else's safety, should be strict liability in case of bad ending.

[cirus]

Good riddance. One less mouth breather taking in oxygen.

[Charles L. Cotton]

According to reports, he wasn't just weaving in and out of traffic, he was also lane splitting which is highly illegal in Texas.

Yes and no. There is no law which specifically mentions lane splitting in Texas. The only law that comes close states that a vehicle must stay in it's own lane. Technically there is a lot of gray area there. In the summertime, air cooled motorcycles and some water cooled motorcycles will overheat if stuck in traffic. The only solution is to lane split or drive up the shoulder. I've personally done it past a motorcycle officer and he didn't hassle me about it.

Wasn't a bill introduced in the 2019 Texas Legislative Session to make lane splitting legal in Texas? If so, it didn't pass.

Chas.

[Hoodasnacks]

The gray area here on the law is annoying. Lane splitting should be legal, but you should have rules around it (e.g. less than 20MPH, etc.). So we should pass a law in this regard. That will also make it so drivers are not so annoyed with it.

That said, this appears to be pure road rage. Probably shouldn't point guns at Texans because you were cut off. Glad the man in the car was armed. It would suck to have to rely on the stability of this motorcyclist.

[RottenApple]

I've ridden the shoulder (which is 100% legal in Texas) plenty of times on my Harley. All of which times were in summer/hot conditions, and were under 30 mph. Most of them under 20 mph. Only once was I ever stopped by DPS, and only because he asked me to switch to the other shoulder as I was coming up on an accident.

ETA: It was August and 102 outside. I had about 2,000 degrees between my legs at a standstill. I needed to keep some airflow over my engine before I burnt the fruits and veggies.

Lane splitting is perfectly safe when under ~30mph. The issues are that most American cage pilots are unaware of the practice or what it is, and riders typically try to do it at highway speeds (FYI, even in CA, lane splitting is only legal at less than 30 mph).

[oljames3]

According to reports, he wasn't just weaving in and out of traffic, he was also lane splitting which is highly illegal in Texas.

Yes and no. There is no law which specifically mentions lane splitting in Texas. The only law that comes close states that a vehicle must stay in it's own lane. Technically there is a lot of gray area there. In the summertime, air cooled motorcycles and some water cooled motorcycles will overheat if stuck in traffic. The only solution is to lane split or drive up the shoulder. I've personally done it past a motorcycle officer and he didn't hassle me about it.

I've ridden air-cooled Hondas and BMWs all over the Texas south and southwest without over heating. If your bike is over heating, you need a better machine.

Both Texas Transportation code 545.060 and 545.401 seem to apply. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/docs ... TN.545.htm

Texas lawyers explain lane splitting.
https://www.fibichlaw.com/blog/is-lane- ... s-in-2020/

https://www.houstoncaraccidentlawyers.o ... -in-texas/

https://www.mcminnlaw.com/texas-motorcy ... splitting/

https://whocanisue.com/is-lane-splittin ... -in-texas/