Illegal lane splitting

[kcaja1]

I got stuck on HOV lane (2 lanes) last night for 1.5 hrs due to a burning bus one mile ahead of me (I didn't know about this at this moment). After waiting for one hour sitting there and with most these cars already shut down I decided to use the middle lane and moved slowly. I found some people were tolerant even encouraging me to do it and of course some were not welcoming.
After moving 3/4 mile I got to the point where I could not move anymore because I now could see the burnt bus and no more space for me to go on.
I know, I know it was illegal and a little unsafe. My heart was beating a little bit faster when I was thinking about doing it but once I was going it was back to normal.
What would you do?

[CThunder-blue]

I would probably do the same. Just as long as you're prepared to accept any consequences, then the onus is on you.

[kaiserz]

I would do the same.

[CynicalC]

I wouldn't have even waited an hour...

[kcaja1]

Originally Posted by CynicalC

I wouldn't have even waited an hour...

I had my reasons for waiting... that all emergencies including police cars should have already passed and my chance of getting caught is greatly minimized.

Also, just to give everybody a background on this HOV lane, this is a switchable direction, has 2 lanes and has barriers. Both sides have break-down lanes. Police and other other emergency vehicles of course use these break down lanes for emergencies.

[Jinx250]

Originally Posted by kcaja1

I know, I know it was illegal and a little unsafe.

How'd you reach the conclusion that it was unsafe?

[DerTeufel]

Originally Posted by Jinx250

How'd you reach the conclusion that it was unsafe?

Lane sharing/splitting isn't legal in all states.

[miss_syn]

I do it all the time in slow traffic. Just because cars can't utilize the half lane because people are parked (it's two lanes + a couple of feet but when cars park the lane is reduced to a half lane) doesn't mean I want to sweat to death waiting. I cut my commute time in half, even going 5-10 mph.

[Gurk]

I do it all the time!
Gotta love CA's split lane laws.

FWIW though, in my opinion, what you did was 100000% safe because the traffic wasn't moving at all. Slow traffic can be dangerous cause people change lanes infront of you. But a stopped traffic? Not unsafe at all unless you don't have the skill to ride your bike without hitting people's mirrors.

If this happened in CA though, I'd definitely find a way to pass the whole thing. Sitting there 1.5 hours is nuts. No thanks!

Just my 2 cents.

[Live2ride]

I remember a time when my "friend" did this in a similar situation. "He" said it was fun but "he" said traffic was backed up for 3 miles and "he" wasn't gonna wait for hours; that's understandable, right? It turned out that there was a 5 car pile-up on "his" exit too...

[kcaja1]

Originally Posted by Jinx250

How'd you reach the conclusion that it was unsafe?

Unsafe in terms of people opening their doors and getting out and since it's illegal here they are most likely be suprised to see me there. Oh, and there were some people out of their cars that night and I talked to some who were encouraging me to keep moving.

[kcaja1]

Originally Posted by Live2ride

I remember a time when my "friend" did this in a similar situation. "He" said it was fun but "he" said traffic was backed up for 3 miles and "he" wasn't gonna wait for hours; that's understandable, right? It turned out that there was a 5 car pile-up on "his" exit too...

That's usually the case isn't it?

The burnt bus was at that perfect junction where you can keep moving or take an exit so, all lanes were closed until the fire was put out. Yes, we were allowed to go while they were cleaning the mess on the road and the bus was still there.

[akima]

I'm new to riding, but I'm already lane splitting (we call it filtering). I quite enjoy doing it! It seems quite safe to me. I often wait a bit for another biker to filter pass me and then get in behind them. It feels safer doing that.

Originally Posted by Gurk

FWIW though, in my opinion, what you did was 100000% safe because the traffic wasn't moving at all. Slow traffic can be dangerous cause people change lanes infront of you. But a stopped traffic? Not unsafe at all unless you don't have the skill to ride your bike without hitting people's mirrors.

I think with stopped traffic there is a danger of someone opening their door to look over the cars and see what's up ahead. For that reason I actually prefer slowly moving traffic.

Originally Posted by Live2ride

I remember a time when my "friend" did this in a similar situation. "He" said it was fun but "he" said traffic was backed up for 3 miles and "he" wasn't gonna wait for hours; that's understandable, right? It turned out that there was a 5 car pile-up on "his" exit too...

LOL

I wonder who this mystery guy is!

[HKr1]

Originally Posted by kcaja1

of course some were not welcoming.

funny how they/some get mad about it...... Dude on our local forum posted about a 500 ninja passing him in while he was in his vette. Was talking about wanting to run him off the road, and beat his ass!! Best he deserves is a ticket, and better yet... was none of his dam business anyway

[bdavison]

On the way back through atlanta, it was 100deg, and some road crew decided it would be a good idea to block off all four lanes of I75 south on a sunday at 3pm.

I waited about 5min...

[Gurk]

Originally Posted by akima

I think with stopped traffic there is a danger of someone opening their door to look over the cars and see what's up ahead. For that reason I actually prefer slowly moving traffic.

You could do the "power walk." It's way less dangerous than going 10mph with your feet up incase someone opens their door on you. And it definitely beats sitting still.

[akima]

Originally Posted by Gurk

You could do the "power walk." It's way less dangerous than going 10mph with your feet up incase someone opens their door on you. And it definitely beats sitting still.

Power walk? I don't get it.

[the big mike]

I believe he means letting the clutch slip utill it has some traction so that you move, but so slow that you keep your feet on the ground. Looks like you're pushing the bike.

[bonbon76]

I would sit and wait...

[akima]

Originally Posted by the big mike

I believe he means letting the clutch slip utill it has some traction so that you move, but so slow that you keep your feet on the ground. Looks like you're pushing the bike.

Ooooh! Cheeky lol. "What... I'm not riding! See: my feet are on the ground"

[alex.s]

god i love CA. "traffic? what traffic... bwap BWAP"

[Cazper]

Obviously here in CA it's a no brainer as it's legal to do just that. I bought my bike when I was still in MN though and it's not legal there. Although there was a couple times in heavy traffic that I went ahead and lane shared... I was very leary of someone getting pissed off about it though... nothing worse than road rage

[Toly]

In NY they expect you to ride like a total imbecile... that's the best part of it. If you follow all the rules of the road, you're definitely not "normal"

[Heed]

Honestly, I might have waited it out as a beginner

[massacremasses]

I was like illegal?


oh wait not from CA..


lol

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by Heed

Honestly, I might have waited it out as a beginner

I remember the first time I lane split. I was southbound on i880 in Oakland, which by the way is one of the crappiest freeways there are, and traffic was at a dead stop. I waited about five minutes and then a motorcyclist passed me so I decided I'd follow him. If he can fit so can I right? So I went through all safe and slow, had to stop at one point to fold back one of my mirrors so I could get through some cars and I get to the front of the traffic and what do I see? One car with a cop car behind him and 2 COMPLETELY OPEN AND FREE LANES! But everybody has to stop and ask Mr. Opficer what happened.

After that experience I started lane splitting and haven't stopped. Oh and my hatred of people was reinforced.

[massacremasses]

only time ive EVER had a problem with it is when a dude in a big cruiser scratched my door with his stupid giant boots trying to squeeze through... I was stuck .. obviously so I couldnt move... and he just went about his way.. stupid dick!

[Lil_Green_Demon]

Originally Posted by HKr1

funny how they/some get mad about it...... Dude on our local forum posted about a 500 ninja passing him in while he was in his vette. Was talking about wanting to run him off the road, and beat his ass!! Best he deserves is a ticket, and better yet... was none of his dam business anyway

A few years ago, before I even considered becoming a motorcyclist, my cousin and I were stuck in stop-and-go traffic for the longest time. He was driving, fwiw.
Anyway, my cousin noticed a group of Harley-Davidson riders lane-splitting together, and for whatever reason, my cuzzo decided to get as far left of his lane as possible to make sure the Harley guys couldn't pass him.
Unfortunately, he did it at the worst time. The entire group of Harley riders had to emergency brake in order to avoid a crash. I began yelling at my cousin, saying, "Why the fuck did you do that? I'm not about to get my fucking @ss kicked over you're idiocy!"
My cousin then started panicking as he saw the Harley riders saying stuff to eachother and pointing at his beat down Mitsubishi Eclipse, so he moved over to give them room. They slowly rode past us, staring into the car, looking like they were ready to kill us...
It's safe to say I've never ridden in a car with my cousin since then. He later told me that he did it because "if we (cagers) have to wait in traffic, motorcyclists need to wait, too!"
I mean, seriously?! So because motorcyclists have one advantage over cagers, it must mean they should throw away that advantage and burn their @sses while waiting in traffic? Fuck that!

Sorry for the long post. Your post reminded me of this story. I'm glad I didn't get my @ss beat, but I wouldn't have blamed the HD riders for knocking out my cousin.

[Lil_Green_Demon]

BTW, I'm a relatively new rider (just hit 2,000 miles the other day) and I started lane-splitting about 500 miles ago. Why? Because I prefer not sitting in traffic if I don't have to.
In fact, this might sound squid-ish, and I will openly admit that it's a risky/dumb move at times, but I also lane-split between cars if they're driving too slowly and I have to be somewhere in a hurry (or just get out of the damn sun).

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by Lil_Green_Demon

BTW, I'm a relatively new rider (just hit 2,000 miles the other day) and I started lane-splitting about 500 miles ago. Why? Because I prefer not sitting in traffic if I don't have to.
In fact, this might sound squid-ish, and I will openly admit that it's a risky/dumb move at times, but I also lane-split between cars if they're driving too slowly and I have to be somewhere in a hurry (or just get out of the damn sun).

I lane split on the freeway even when people are going 65+

I guess I just like to be in the front.

[Live2ride]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

I lane split on the freeway even when people are going 65+

I guess I just like to be in the front.

I never try to get ahead of any pack of cars for the exact opposite of this reason. I prefer to stay behind cars if they are traveling fast enough; if your behind them, then you have control of the situation. If they are behind you then they could a) ram you at a stop light b) ram you cuz they are jealous of your mad awesome 250 or c) be a decent, non-tailgating human being. If I drive behind a biker; I'm very cautious and give them a huge amount of room; unlike most people. When I have cars behind me while riding they generally either tailgate me because they r buttholes or they leave just enough room so that If I crashed they wouldn't have time to brake and run me over.

[Momaru]

Lane splitting? Go for it, just hope a cage doesn't decide to change lanes without signaling. It's only happens about 50% of the time. About two thirds actually check their mirrors and blind spots before starting a lane change, with or without signals.
I have only lane-split once in my life and that was to avoid rear-ending the car in front of me that decided to make a right turn without a signal, brakes or even slowing down. Then again, it's rather illegal in my state and I spend too much time talking to LEOs as is.


This may be a smidge off topic, but it's about bypassing traffic:

About two weeks ago, I was on my way to dinner on the other side of town in my truck with a few friends. We got stuck in a traffic jam. Never did get to the accident itself (our exit was before the scene), but it added an hour to a trip that usually takes ~15min.

Some 10-15 minutes into the jam, I see a few cars pulling onto the gravel shoulder and just zipping on ahead. First a few, then more and more, as people decide "hey, I too can skip the jam and get where I'm going." A few minutes later, the shoulder's full too, as so many people are trying to bypass, they're having a traffic jam of their own.

I'm getting a little frustrated, but no big. This happens all the time and I've got half the dinner party in the truck with me. Then I look back. I see red & white flashing lights. An ambulance and a fire truck behind. They're trying desperately to get through the traffic, but their designated "lane," the shoulder, is full. They can't go any further over because on one side of the highway is a massive ditch, on the other is guard rail. The lanes are jam-packed with people tryin to get wherever they're going. Someone's in need of an ambulance, but it can't get there because everyone else is in a hurry too. Eventually people in the normal traffic flow were able to make room for the people cheating so the ambulance could get by, but it takes another 15minutes for the ambulance to even get to me, by which point I was almost two miles from the scene (looked it up later).

A full 20% of the people blocking the shoulder were motorcyclists, of one kind or another. Most of them raced ahead when cars in front of them made way for the emergency vehicles, instead of making room faster by packing in together.

Generally I'm a tolerant guy, but if you're gonna skip traffic, please think about it. Your decision to save time may cost someone (perhaps you) the last minutes of their life.

The ambulance couldn't get to the scene in time. There were three additions to the local obituary from that accident.

[rusninja]

Originally Posted by Live2ride

I never try to get ahead of any pack of cars for the exact opposite of this reason. I prefer to stay behind cars if they are traveling fast enough; if your behind them, then you have control of the situation. If they are behind you then they could a) ram you at a stop light b) ram you cuz they are jealous of your mad awesome 250 or c) be a decent, non-tailgating human being. If I drive behind a biker; I'm very cautious and give them a huge amount of room; unlike most people. When I have cars behind me while riding they generally either tailgate me because they r buttholes or they leave just enough room so that If I crashed they wouldn't have time to brake and run me over.

agreed :S

[AlanDog]

So I had my first lane-splitting experience a couple weekends ago--it was great! Most cars will try to avoid you--in fact they were pulling away like I was a madman when I was just going 10mph... okay, okay, I'm on a motorcycle, but I'm not crazy! But I did get stuck on a 2 lane road that was backed up that had a wide (6 foot+) shoulder... it would have been safe to ride on, but is it legal (in california?) I don't think so, but...

[Mountain Dew]

It is illegal in every state to drive/ride in the shoulder. The shoulder is for emergency vehicles and breakdowns.

[Cuongism]

Shoulders aren't legal to ride on and something you may to avoid since a lot of crap (including glass, sharp objects, debris, etc) end up on shoulders. Those cars pulling away are actually doing you a favor by giving you more space so don't be shy about waving to them to thank them CA drivers are used to motorcycles and many will do that kindness for us.

[CThunder-blue]

Originally Posted by Cuongism

Shoulders aren't legal to ride on and something you may to avoid since a lot of crap (including glass, sharp objects, debris, etc) end up on shoulders. Those cars pulling away are actually doing you a favor by giving you more space so don't be shy about waving to them to thank them CA drivers are used to motorcycles and many will do that kindness for us.

Yep, I always give a nice when they move over. It makes them feel good about doing it and encourages them to do it again in the future. Only time I won't wave is if I'm lane splitting and need both hands on the controls.

[onetruevibe]

Originally Posted by Lil_Green_Demon

I began yelling at my cousin, saying, "Why the fuck did you do that? I'm not about to get my fucking @ss kicked over you're idiocy!"

I'm glad you made the effort to mask the "A," coz that made it safe for work

[miss_syn]

Ironically my boss went into a bitch fit the same day this went up

"If I'm stuck in traffic those motherf***ing bicyclists should sit behind me too!"

[Alex]

Your boss is an idjit.