Lane Splitting Yay or Nay?
 

Got this from BCSB thought it was kinda interesting.
I ride as well and I always thought lane splitting was a dumb and dangerous thing to do. But after reading this I guess I can see why it's safer (I never thought of it like that).
Regardless RIP to the riders though.

source: http://jalopnik.com/5502943/the-phoe...re-preventable

If they're talking about strictly through stationary traffic, then okay...

I recently read a good article on lanesplitting here.

yeah, and then what the fuck happens at a green light and such? you can't just keep riding alone beside a car, and you can't go in front of them because you're now either sideways or in the intersection. I'm sorry these guys died, but I hate it when people on bikes do this. if you're beside a car and traffic starts moving again that would put you in a worse position, no?

You know what would be great prevention of getting rear ended at a light? using your mirrors until a car is safely stopped behind you.

Try not to drive in cali.

wow that's sorta sad, i know that when i start riding iuno if i'd have to balls to lane split. it seems scary

what about the majority of the time where you're not the first at a light? as a rule of thumb i always check my mirrors before someone stops behind me but honestly i can say that 75% of the time if a car was about to rear end me at a stop the only thing i could do is quickly move into the opposite lane or lane split to avoid a collision.

for some reason im always scared to lane split in fear of someone opening their door. but i bet the chances of that happening are slimmer than getting rear ended in traffic lol

don't worry, I want very little to do with cali. I am curious as to what they do when the light turns green, I'm guessing the bikes just rip ahead though.

sorry, I should have clarified. you'd actually be best off not first at the light, watching behind you and "lane split" if needed to avoid having your bike get ass raped by another vehicle.

I'm yay for it, and I'm not even a biker. Why? Simply because if they're lane splitting, they
intend to go faster than traffic flow. And if they do so, what's wrong with that?

I wish cars would let me lane split my car (if that was possible) because I usually end up going faster than traffic flow anyway.
I think the faster people deserve to be in the front.
So I see no reason why a bike being in front would be a problem. They generally accelerate faster than cars too.

i think the underlying fact remains: bikes and cars dont kill ppl.... ppl controling those vehicles kill ppl. many many injuries and accidents could be prevented by ppl in cars/trucks watching out more, not the biker doing somethin like lane splitting.

I think that article is misleading.
They make it sound like the bikers saw the truck coming and refused to move out of harms way in fear of breaking the law.

Lane splitting had nothing to do with this. If you're stopped in traffic then you're stopped in traffic, if the bikers saw the truck, law or not I'd hope they had the sense to move their asses.

If they split the lane and moved to the front then the truck would have hit the cars.
are cars supposed to lane split too then?
Does that mean they want bikers to move to the front at every red light/ traffic stop situation?

yes, the dump truck would then hit the car, a car thats acting as a roll cage(comparing it to a bike that has nothing) WITH an airbag...sure the car would get destroyed, but the odds of the the driver living are higher then the odds of the guys on the bikes.

bitter much?

how about give them the common courtesy and let them go first...99% of the time they're going be to riding faster then you would drive...would it kill you and fuck up your schedule that much if you waited an extra 2 seconds at a green light to let them quickly jet infront of you??

I think it makes total sense, as long as the riders don't abuse it, i.e. split lanes on the freeway or something. From what I understand the bill that was mentioned in the Jalop post was regarding bikers moving up in stationary traffic like when they are stopped at a light. This isn't about "getting ahead" but about not getting rear ended with absolutely no protection.

considering that im thinking of getting a bike, it makes sense to an extent.
riders i see abuse it. going up 1 or 2 car length should be ok, but riders (if not all) abuse it to get ahead.

I think it would be a good idea to at least try it out. If it can save some lives, then I'm all for it. I know there will be people that will abuse it, but it might be worth it in the end. I say yay.

I think this makes total sense, If it can save lives than im all for it. But you know there is going to be bikers out there that are going to abuse this privelage I think they should enforce a hefty fine for abusing this privelage

So what's it to you if they get ahead? You're just being jealous. I'm getting a bike soon and plan on lane splitting as much as possible. Getting stuck behind slow ass drivers at a stop light is no fun.

Driving to the ferry last summer I watched a guy on a Harley lane split between a Semi and a tour bus on the highway.

I was pretty sure I was going to see something horrific happen, luckily nothing did. Fucking motorcycle bonehead.

I would strongly support lane splitting. I think bike should be allowed to weave through traffic like in Asia :)
but IMO the greater responsibility in using the lane is motorcycle, you have to always remember that the car may not see you. so make sure you prepare safe reaction should the car move and did not see the bike.

too bad here we have such complicated ICBC insurance, thus when accident happens , the driver of the car will be to blame where in fact the biker was the idiot by not making sure the car driver saw him/her...

I'm kind of neutral on this one.

I support it for the fact that it'll be safer for the bikers and it'll improve traffic flow. However, when compared the Asia, the majority of the bikes here are relatively large than the majority in Asia, which are small scooters. Therefore, it may be harder to lane split at a stop without physically contacting other vehicles. I have had riders lean, hold, scrape, and have all sorts of physical contacts with our car in Taiwan before and it annoys the hell out of me, especially if they accidentally scratch your car and they just keep rollin' along like nothing has happened since they think we can just buff it out. Hopefully the riders don't abuse this.

Uh yeah, if you read the article, this is happening in Arizona, not in BC. You don't have to worry about riders abusing anything.

When I had a bike I did this anyways, illegal or not. When I am on my motorcycle, I am looking out for #1, my life. I feel alot safer without vehicles around, so I would lane split to the front, and then go. Unless someone is launching their VERY quick vehicle, nothing ever kept up with me and I wasnt even riding that fast. Bikes just accelerate ALOT faster. Its a non issue.

I say if its done elsewhere in the world, why not?

IMO lane splitting should only be OK for stopped or almost-stopped traffic (say walking pace... or restrict it for stopped traffic if a legal definition is needed).

Slide into a place where you can be seen, when nothing else is moving? Sure.

Zip and slip between fast moving traffic? No way. Motorcyclists are hard enough to see and when an aggressively ridden bike is around me I'm on the lookout, but the last thing I think there should be is any legal grounds to put oneself in a more dangerous position.