how to safely lane split?

[Rox]

Lane splitting/sharing is a great thing when done safely. Best advice I can give is know have wide you are as silly as it sounds. Best basic judgement is you mirrors. Secondly is speed. They say 15mph but Ive never seen anyone do 15. Sometimes not even 30. Go at your comfort level. I laneshare on my LeMans all the time that's a big Bertha. Unbaffled Mistrals help a bunch I think . Let's them know you're there. 

[jim mac]

I split lanes every day on my commute into Edinburgh, Scotland.  whilst it is legal here it should only be done at slow speed, certainly under 30mph.  if you are involved in any accident while splitting you will automatically be assumed 50% to blame by police and insurance companies unless you can prove otherwise and even then probably still held jointly liable.  good lighting helps you stand out, particularly now that dark nights are early, i use Acerbis Vision handguards on my Norge, along with a LED bat when required.  i also wear a Hi Viz jacket.  doesnt mean they see me all the time, but usually only get a close call every couple of weeks when a driver just doesnt look before pulling out

I see guys on motorbikes regulary, sitting in the traffic waiting for it to move, i put this down to a lack of confidence in splitting - or maybe yhey are more sensible than me

[Chuck in Indiana]

What JDG said is exactly my observation in SoCal. I'll take the bike every time.. it's so much more practical compared to sitting in traffic in a car. My "commute" to get to the Santa Monicas is around 20 miles. Generally takes around 40 minutes on the bike. Maybe triple that in a car, depending on the time of day/accidents, etc.
If going to the Angles Crest.. it's about 45 minutes on a bike. You might not get there the same day in a car, since downtown LA is involved.   
I've never had a problem with someone trying to block me. Many will see/hear me coming and move over to give me more room to get past.
That said, it's still a 110% full alert operation. I have a video somewhere of what I call sane lane splitting. I'll post it if I can find it.

[dibble]

I can move up to 3 times faster across London on a bike than in my car but almost more importantly I can reasonably accurately predict how long a journey will take.

Is it dangerous well yes but.........

 is it when I was working on a bike I was in touch with about 30 bikes on my channel add to that 20 or more close friends with all of us doing around 1000miles of riding a week much of it filtering.

 Thats about 200,000 miles per month.

You would hear of a crash about every other month and a bad one maybe once every 6 months or over a million miles.....



 

[Tobit]

I don't always lane split

But when I do, I'm in this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msPrOIAVUZo

Tobit

[Nic in Western NYS]

Not a lane splitter and haven't lived where it was common/legal. I was looking for a chicken on a bike emoticon to explain my rationale but couldn't find one.

[guzzimike]

I have been Splitting Lanes in Calif safely since 1974. Never an issue, always on some level of Fun....

Lane Splitting - It's no big deal, and although at first it appears dangerous and unpredictable,  soon enough you do it naturally. Much like shifting a Manual transmission; which often appears daunting at first, but soon enough becomes so commonplace that one shifts through the gears as needed, with apparently hardly any forethought involved in the process.

Now the experienced operator KNOWS that there exists a lot of past experience adding input to a seemingly simplistic ritual of balancing speed, Momentum, Clutch and Throttle in order to shift Smoothly. But we do it routinely, and we do it seamlessly ( most of the time )

Same general methodology principles apply to Lane Splitting. And again, shared in much commonality with Manual Shifting; Lane Splitting often becomes a preferred mode of interfacing the operator with the Vehicle and the Road.


When Lane splitting, watch the rear view mirrors of the cars you are overtaking. Look for theeyes of the drivers.

Look to see if they SEE YOU.

Look to see if they DO NOT SEE YOU.

Look to see the first Hints of a HEAD MOVEMNT which most often Always preceedes the hand on the wheel or the initial hint of the turning of the front tires.

Always place yourself in the car ahead of you, and ask " What could I do with this car at this time..?"

IOW, PLace yerself inside THE DRIVER'S HEAD. SO THAT YOU know WHAT HE MAY OR MAY NOT DO before He / She even KNOWS IT THEMSELVES.


DO this FOR every FREAKKING CAR THAT YOU ARE OVERTAKING.


DO IT FOR THE CARS IN FRONT OF YOU ON THREE LEVELS DEEP, AS WELL AS THOSE BEHIND YOU AND THE ONES AT YOUR IMMEDIATE RIGHT AND LEFT.


DO IT CONTINUOUSLY, because your survival depends on this.

By  The end of only One Hour of Lane Splitting, you will likely have done this Hundreds of times. Literally..


NOTE: If YOU are Not willing to put in this Mental / Physical effort, please do not attempt to Lane Split.

Simply, Lane Splitting is Not For You; and that's OK.Safe Lane Splitting is Not everyone's Cup of Tea, or Soup, or whatever..



But again, if you are willing to invest time and effort, you will find that after a few days, the process becomes...Perhaps;  not exactly "Routine"; but rather - Not " as Taxing" mentally as it was at first, apparently. 

After two days or so, an apprehensive "relaxed" mode seems to creep in. This is not carelessness, but rather a dismissal of some of the common paralyzing Doomsday scenarios, allowing in some levels of comfort based on your personal proficiency so far..

After Lane Splitting regularly for One Week, You will begin own the Lane Splitting and evolve to TAKE IT IN STRIDE, Smoothly and safely. Because YOU are In Control of Time and Space.

Or At least of the Time and Space in Front and Around you as you navigate through it.



After Two Weeks, The Epiphany hits; Lane Splitting becomes a Zen thing...Much like precision shooting, where you become the bullet and the Barrel...and it all happens in concert and you can almost slow the entire scenario or portions thereof in your mind...and You  will wonder how the hell you ever rode before, without Lane Splitting


No Shiite. It's a Zen thing which is part of the reason that we ride Motorcycles to begin with...Right..?

Lane Splitting is just another manifestation of the same, same.



Enjoy..


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[tris]

Curious Ad B or anyone else:  how difficult is it to cahnge from a country wher you drive in the right lane to one where you drive in the left. Do you catch yourself occasionally going back to your dominant country's lane.

Being from the UK you don't have much choice except to deal with it since we're in the minority driving on the left   

However my observations on driving on the right are as follows

Bike - absolutely no issue just need to watch when you pull away
LHD Car - as easy as driving in the UK
RHD Car - can be tricky as you tend to put yourself next to the centre line which is then the wrong side   

Still like most things it becomes easier with practice.


Re filtering - I don't like doing it for all the reasons above.

I've just came back from a quick trip to France last week and trying to filter through the traffic on Clive Sullivan Way out of Hull at morning rush hour was no fun.

In the queuing bit nobody would leave any space and once clear they all wanted to do 90 MPH where you were.

Oh how I missed the Belgium & French roads 

[Adan]

Look to see the first Hints of a HEAD MOVEMNT which most often Always preceedes the hand on the wheel or the initial hint of the turning of the front tires.

Always place yourself in the car ahead of you, and ask " What could I do with this car at this time..?"

IOW, PLace yerself inside THE DRIVER'S HEAD. SO THAT YOU know WHAT HE MAY OR MAY NOT DO before He / She even KNOWS IT THEMSELVES.


DO this FOR every FREAKKING CAR THAT YOU ARE OVERTAKING.


DO IT FOR THE CARS IN FRONT OF YOU ON THREE LEVELS DEEP, AS WELL AS THOSE BEHIND YOU AND THE ONES AT YOUR IMMEDIATE RIGHT AND LEFT.


DO IT CONTINUOUSLY, because your survival depends on this.

Great instructions for lane splitting.  It's an acquired skill all of its own.  Once you get the hang of it, you'll be breezing through traffic easily and safely.  But it's a lot of mental work.

Other good advice I read above -- one eye always on the front tires.

It's only a slight exaggeration to say my whole life is based around lane-splitting.  On a bad traffic day, it saves me about 2 hours of extremely frustrating wasted time.

[kirkemon]

lucydad, how do you know it was a young rider?

(I have a sport bike, I split lanes, I wear a full face helmet, I'm over 60)
Recently, at a gas station someone called to me, "hey kid", I took it as a compliment.

[lucydad]

Kirk,

You nailed me on that one.  I assumed he was young.  Of course I could be dead wrong.  Like you, I have fooled people while riding.  When geared up, it is impossible to discern age of a rider. 

Interesting discussion.  I still have no interest in lane splitting except in an emergency/avoidance situation of an oncoming car closing fast from the rear. 

[johnr]

I'm not at all sure if lane splitting is legal here or not.
I do it, but mainly in town. i have rules for myself regarding this.
1/ I only do it through stopped traffic.
2/ I must be able to get right to the front of the line (say at a stop light) so I can clear the traffic on the green.
3/ I never do it faster than I can stop for an opening door.

The object of the exercise for me is to get into traffic free zones. If the traffic is moving it's not a happening thing.

[pehayes]

2/ I must be able to get right to the front of the line (say at a stop light) so I can clear the traffic on the green.

One of the safety advantages of lane filtering is to get you out of LAST PLACE in line.  Not uncommon for motorcycles to get rear ended.  Move forward and someone else gets the rear impact.  I'd filter up even if I could only get one or two spots.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Chuck in Indiana]

One of the safety advantages of lane filtering is to get you out of LAST PLACE in line.  Not uncommon for motorcycles to get rear ended.  Move forward and someone else gets the rear impact.  I'd filter up even if I could only get one or two spots.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

Absolutely.