SB 288 - Motorcycle "lane splitting" bill

[treadlightly]

Even though almost everyone used a bicycle for transportation as a kid, I think the non-motorcycling public has a mental image of the road that is basically different from what motorcyclists have. Those who ride rationally with respect for precision control probably keep their potential problem inventories a lot more current than your average texting millennial happily ignorant of what's in his blind spots.

There are plenty of times maintaining a positive delta vee in traffic is safer than constant speed. People see relative motion, and there are those pesky blind spots.

Below a certain low speed, and certainly when stopped, a motorcycle lacks what a sailor would call steerageway. Maneuverability skyrockets with enough speed to engage gyroscopic forces, which kick in pretty quick, and all those other things like camber thrust that control a bike.

Lane-splitting or not, ride safe.

[varko]

I’ve been riding for 16 years. I average about 4 days a week commuting in Houston traffic. I have lane-split a handful of times when the traffic was essentially stopped. It’s not really my first choice as I prefer to keep as much distance as possible between me and the rolling cages, but there’s been a few times that it made sense. Honestly I’m more paranoid riding in parking lots, and have by far had more close calls there. Residential streets are even more crazy. I have two friends that have been hit on their bikes on residential streets, both longtime extremely safe riders. It just seems to me that we as riders are already expected to on a consistent basis safely deal with traffic situations that are considerably more chaotic than a heavily congested freeway. Allowing lane-splitting in certain circumstances should be a no-brainer.