Should Motorcycles be able to lane split?

Again not sure why people wish to harm/kill other people because they're stuck in traffic and the other person is able to get around them. Whole "crab bucket" thing in action.

 

I believe this falls under the legal definition of "depraved indifference to life." Granted, few prosecutors would take this on - it's too difficult to prove. Back in my road cycling days, we had a saying "if you want to commit the perfect murder, give them a bike then run them down with a car". We always operated under the theory that no one is ever prosecuted for killing a cyclist, no matter what the circumstances. That's one of the reasons I switched to mountain biking. Trees are a lot less murderous than people.

 

Psychopath? I'm stating the obvious. I'm not going to see a bike coming up in between a lane when I check my side and rear view, and I'm going to be watching the actual lane I'm going into and paying attention to THAT flow of traffic. There is no way a motorist can be at fault if they make a lane change in slow moving traffic and cut off someone lane splitting. That would be ridiculous.

I've watched plenty of idiot's video's on youtube lane splitting going 30-40 mph thru traffic going moving at 5-10 mph. When a car goes to change a lane in such traffic as happens all the time, they are not going to see the bike coming up between the lanes. Plenty of video's of them going over the hood as well.

Basically what I am stating is the bike better understand that other motorists will not see him until it is far too late.

 

Motorcycles are death machines. Per mile driven, you are 26 times more likely to die in a motorcycle accident than a car accident.

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/motorcycles/fatalityfacts/motorcycles

 

You stated:

"All I can say is I will not be looking for them nor care to look for them if I make a lane change and they go flying over the hood."

So yes, psychopath. You clearly said you will not look for them nor do you care if they die and yes if your change lanes and cause an accident you can be held liable. Clearly the motorcyclist needs to ride in a safe manner as well but to just say "well I'm not going to look for other drivers and if they crash into oh well" is (*)(*)(*)(*)ing nuts.

 

No I will not being looking for a lane splitter every time I change lanes. Neither will any other motorist. Their attention will be on the CARS(or bikes) in the LANE they are merging into. Which is why the BIKE better be proceeding with caution.

 

I'm not saying that motorcycles are as safe as cars, clearly your odds of dying in an accident increase when you are not strapped into a protective frame, however the term "death machines" gives the impression that if you ride a motorcycle it will kill you, which is simply not the case. That mentality that needs to be fought for motorcycles to gain more popularity.

 

Yep, might as well just kill those who get away with not having to wait in traffic.

Evidently there are those just waiting to kill others for sport!

This is where things get real sketchy. Not trying to look is bad enough, but not caring is pretty damn (*)(*)(*)(*)ty.

I think that number could be brought down considerably, but yes, they are more dangerous. I wonder how many of them are killed by cars.

 

I personally don't care, rode bikes for years. Spit lanes as well. But I don't care who you are or what you think, its not safe.

 

Still not understanding why you wouldn't see a motorcycle coming up behind you. Do you just look in your mirrors when you merge or do you actually look, because if you actually look you'll notice most vehicles.

 

Well you say that but studies say it's safe. The key is to be reasonable about it. Clearly going 50 between cars is (*)(*)(*)(*)ing stupid, but moving up between cars at a speed that is a bit faster than their relative speed is fine.

http://news.berkeley.edu/2015/05/29/motorcycle-lanesplitting-report/

An analysis conducted by researchers from UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) found that lane-splitting is relatively safe if done in traffic moving at 50 mph or less, and if motorcyclists do not exceed the speed of other vehicles by more than 15 mph.

“Surprisingly, we found that the difference in speed between the motorcycle and the surrounding traffic was a bigger predictor of injury than speed alone,” said study lead author Thomas Rice, epidemiologist at SafeTREC, which is based at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. “Above a 15-mile-per-hour speed differential, the risk of injury rose significantly.”

 

Split lanes for years on the 405 in L.A. Cut my commute time by more than half. That being said, it is not for the faint of heart. You are scanning for a lot of things: vehicles with big mirrors, two larger vehicles next to each other, cars hugging the center, and the biggest one: developing gaps that might encourage a lane switch. Never so much as nicked somebody's mirror, but there were days I arrived and almost had to peel my hands off the grips.

 

GUy hits motorcyclist for following law, naughty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pge0pi93JtM

 

Reasonable is the key, I just went above idle speed. But some dudes roll back that fast knob and fly.

 

Yup, that is why there is a 15 mph disparity, and a upper limit of 35mph.

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Is that the kind of human being you CHOOSE TO BE? I have been chased by hatchet wielding freaks twice. Could you post your pic so I can determine if it was you?

 

27 times the chance of death per mile, IMHO, is pretty close to a death machine. I would love to get a motorcycle for a commuter vehicle, but I'm too scared of trucks and bad auto drivers.

 

Yeah, seen the videos and I just don't understand it. I'll get nervous being in my own lane when the lane next to me is a parking lot and I'll slow down. Still I think legalizing lane splitting (with reasonable speed boundries) and trying to encourage people to commute on motorcyles/scooters could help out cities like mine a lot. The roads are clogged and motorcycles can help alleviate that. Would take time though, and a general change in attitude towards motorcycles.

 

Once they freed Sonny Barger, it became a moot point.

 

On one local road (rural divided four lane) motorcycles had this tendency to hang out in the blind spot of my old Ford Explorer. In two trips down that road, I almost took out two motorcycles. Thankfully my spidy sense told me to look over my shoulder and not rely on my driver side mirror.

 

I don't understand why people don't ALWAYS look behind them. I was taught to physically check every time, and that is what I do.

 

If you want it do it. You don't have to get something big but man don't let it pass you by if it's something you want. Obviously freak accidents can happen, and yeah there are a lot of idiot's out there, but if you're expecting it then it seems things go fine. I just got my first motorcycle in Dec of 2014, been riding daily ever since (we'll except for snow). No crashes, a few close ones but I've avoided them by driving aggressively defensive if that makes sense. Hover the controls, expect cars to do the dumbest move possible, you'd be surprised at how good you get at predicting traffic, and when you can't predict someone just go around them, or back way off, or get on another road. Anyway point is that it's not as unsafe as people make it out to be. Yes bad things can happen for damn sure, but for me it's worth the risk. I went from Army Infantryman to Software Engineer, I needed a bit of release from the boring office (*)(*)(*)(*), and that motorcycle gives it to me every day.

 

Honestly it sucks we don't have a good drivers Ed program to teach people to look over the shoulder. I'd gladly pay another 10 bucks a year in taxes to put teens through drivers Ed in high school. Money well spent I'd say.

 

Sure, ad I should be able to open my door.

 

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/...is opening car door while moving a violation?




If you open your car door and another vehicle hits it, whose fault is it?

4511.70 Obstructing view and control of driver - opening door into moving traffic.
(A) No person shall drive a vehicle or trackless trolley when it is so loaded, or when there are in the front seat such number of persons, as to obstruct the view of the driver to the front or sides of the vehicle or to interfere with the driver’s control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle.

(B) No passenger in a vehicle or trackless trolley shall ride in such position as to interfere with the driver’s view ahead or to the sides, or to interfere with the driver’s control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle.

(C) No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.

(D) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one predicate motor vehicle or traffic offense, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of two or more predicate motor vehicle or traffic offenses, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

 

UK motorcyclists call it the "lifesaver", the final glance before you move lanes.