FINALLY - Lane Sharing is supported in CA

Chill · Jan 30, 2013

InNoHurry said:
"Not illegal"

Yes, repetition is good. Say it again. Lane splitting is not illegal. Repeat.

Messages for Other Vehicle Drivers
1) Lane splitting by motorcycles is not illegal in California when done in a safe and prudent manner.
2) Motorists should not take it upon themselves to discourage motorcyclists from lane splitting.
3) Intentionally blocking or impeding a motorcyclist in a way that could cause harm to the rider is illegal (CVC 22400).
4) Opening a vehicle door to impede a motorcycle is illegal (CVC 22517).
5) Never drive while distracted.
6) You can help keep motorcyclists and all road users safe by:
- Checking mirrors and blind spots, especially before changing lanes or turning
- Signaling your intentions before changing lanes or merging with traffic
- Allowing more following distance, three or four seconds, when behind a motorcycle so the motorcyclist has enough time to maneuver or stop in an emergency

summitdog · Jan 31, 2013

Thanks to everyone who has been working on this.

If you ever want the voice of an attorney that spends almost as much time in traffic court as the Chippies, don't hesitate to contact me.

In regards to impeding a motorcyclist, I have had the personal injury client who had the door opened on him by the driver of a car. The driver was an out-of-stater who was "honked off" that the motorcyclist was moving through traffic faster than he was.

Scotty

Flash_beezy · Jan 31, 2013

summitdog said:
Thanks to everyone who has been working on this.

If you ever want the voice of an attorney that spends almost as much time in traffic court as the Chippies, don't hesitate to contact me.

In regards to impeding a motorcyclist, I have had the personal injury client who had the door opened on him by the driver of a car. The driver was an out-of-stater who was "honked off" that the motorcyclist was moving through traffic faster than he was.

Scotty

Some chump in his beemer nearly ran me into the next lane today ( The space I had mysteriously became non-existent) ..wanted to give him a piece of my mind..but I was better then that and kept riding..

Marcoose · Jan 31, 2013

Chill said:
Yes, repetition is good. Say it again. Lane splitting is not illegal. Repeat.

It strikes me as odd, Christian, that the wording is "not illegal". Why not "legal"? I doubt it's a mere case of splitting hairs over semantics. There are dozens and dozens of actions simply prescribed as legal or illegal. Black in white. Why isn't lane sharing simply "legal"? That's odd.

Surj · Jan 31, 2013

InNoHurry said:
It strikes me as odd, Christian, that the wording is "not illegal". Why not "legal"? I doubt it's a mere case of splitting hairs over semantics. There are dozens and dozens of actions simply prescribed as legal or illegal. Black in white. Why isn't lane sharing simply "legal"? That's odd.

Maybe because drivers say things like "Isn't that lllegal?!?" or "That should be illegal?!" :dunno

But several non-moto folks who have looked at the guidelines have thought it was was weird. One even thought it said "not legal."

I say legal.

boney · Jan 31, 2013

monkeyneck said:
Maybe because drivers say things like "Isn't that lllegal?!?" or "That should be illegal?!"

But several non-moto folks who have looked at the guidelines have thought it was was weird. One even thought it said "not legal."

I say legal.

I forget the term for it. It's probably Latin... Basically, everything in the state is not illegal unless it is specifically made so, or specifically made legal. So, if there isn't a law for it or against it, it's "not illegal."

Let's see if I can give an example and get it right;
It is illegal to run a red light. That is, if the stop light is red you may not proceed into the intersection. That makes it illegal. However, it is specifically legal to proceed through the red light if you're making a right turn, you stopped behind the limit line first, and there is no traffic. That's the difference between legal, and illegal.

Since lane sharing has no laws on the books, it is neither legal nor illegal.

My head hurts.

rodr · Jan 31, 2013

InNoHurry said:
It strikes me as odd, Christian, that the wording is "not illegal". Why not "legal"? I doubt it's a mere case of splitting hairs over semantics. There are dozens and dozens of actions simply prescribed as legal or illegal. Black in white. Why isn't lane sharing simply "legal"? That's odd.

That which is not illegal is legal, so I would just say "legal".

I suspect in the case of lane sharing the expression "not illegal" came about to emphasize that it's not specifically addressed in the CVC, and that it's on you if something bad happens. Hopefully the new policy will help to take that in a more positive direction.

DataDan · Jan 31, 2013

Flash_beezy said:
Some chump in his beemer nearly ran me into the next lane today ( The space I had mysteriously became non-existent) ..wanted to give him a piece of my mind..but I was better then that and kept riding..

Good for you.

Next time, assume you WON'T be seen, and avoid putting yourself in a position where you're vulnerable to a lane change.

A cut-off when a vehicle in one lane merges into the opposite lane across the splitting corridor is by far the most common lane-splitting mishap reported on BARF. Here are a few:

The relative safety of lane splitting comes from riding between two lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic. You don't have to rely on being seen because the presence of other vehicles keeps drivers in their lanes. But when a gap opens up in one lane, that protection is gone and you have to rely on drivers' expectation of a lane-splitting motorcycle and on their keen observation skills. Not a good chance to take.

Here are some tips for dealing with a gap while splitting:

Stay visually ahead of your situation so you know when you're approaching a gap.
Slow down as you near the gap. Reduced speed gives you two advantages: You spend more time in the driver's mirror field, so you're more likely to be seen, and your braking distance is reduced.
Don't expect a signal, don't rely on head movement, and don't fool yourself into thinking you're telepathic. A driver will jump into the gap without warning.
Approaching the gap, position yourself where they can't get you. Try to time your passage through it when you're "out of phase" with the adjacent lane. That is, when cars that could jump into the gap are either too far behind or too far ahead to change lanes.
As you enter the gap, occupy it and move away from the opposite lane. You gain space cushion that can protect you if another vehicle tries to occupy it too.

Cincinnatus · Jan 31, 2013

rodr said:
That which is not illegal is legal, so I would just say "legal".

I suspect in the case of lane sharing the expression "not illegal" came about to emphasize that it's not specifically addressed in the CVC, and that it's on you if something bad happens. Hopefully the new policy will help to take that in a more positive direction.

It's the dichotomy of English Law vs. Napoleonic Law (see Louisiana & Nawlins :teeth

).

IANAL!!

However, my understanding is that English Law is basically that "everything NOT specified as illegal IS legal", and that Napoleonic Law is that "everything NOT permitted IS illegal".

Real lawyers (and those who play them on TV), please chime in and tell me I'm full of chit or otherwise. :teeth

Poxy · Jan 31, 2013

DataDan said:
Here are some tips for dealing with a gap while splitting:

Stay visually ahead of your situation so you know when you're approaching a gap.

Slow down as you near the gap. Reduced speed gives you two advantages: You spend more time in the driver's mirror field, so you're more likely to be seen, and your braking distance is reduced.

Don't expect a signal, don't rely on head movement, and don't fool yourself into thinking you're telepathic. A driver will jump into the gap without warning.

Approaching the gap, position yourself where they can't get you. Try to time your passage through it when you're "out of phase" with the adjacent lane. That is, when cars that could jump into the gap are either too far behind or too far ahead to change lanes.

As you enter the gap, occupy it and move away from the opposite lane. You gain space cushion that can protect you if another vehicle tries to occupy it too.

For those new to lane splitting, commit the above to memory!
It's all about "The Gap".

Marcoose · Jan 31, 2013

One thing is the CVC, which is the "law" and has to contain certain words as elaborated above. Another thing is a 4-page handout, which is not the law. Why not say "legal" in a handout? Fear of liability? BS! It sends the wrong message, put road users at risk and defeat the purpose.

Bay Arean · Jan 31, 2013

I know Facebook is considered lame-ass by many of you, but for those who use it, I recommend posting the link there. I just did. And I extracted the following sentence:

" Motorists should not take it upon themselves to discourage motorcyclists from lane splitting."

I believe the lady who hit me was in fact, doing this. A world of hurt ensued. People just don't know. Or they forgot what they knew. Whatever. Remind them.

shaun b · Feb 17, 2013

so whats the rule on splitting when there is only one lane. Someplace like the 37 between the napa river and sears point raceway.

Can you ride the line on one side or the other?

TheRiddler · Feb 17, 2013

shaun b said:
so whats the rule on splitting when there is only one lane. Someplace like the 37 between the napa river and sears point raceway.

Can you ride the line on one side or the other?

- Some lanes are narrower than others, leaving little room to pass safely. If you can't fit, don't split.

- Some vehicles are wider than others -- it is not advisable to split near wide trucks. If you can't fit, don't split.

- Know the limitations of your motorcycle --- wide bars, fairing and bags require more space between vehicles. If you can't fit, don't split.

(From the expanded link in the first post. It doesn't directly answer your question, but I'd say it's fine. The break-down lane is not okay, and is a great way to get a nail in your tire.)

OldMadBrit · Feb 17, 2013

Not meaning to put a downer on all the great work here but I have just had by far the most aggressive series of intentional blocks that I have ever encountered.

Returning from a ride in the Coastal range, I found myself following my buddy on HWY 80 along the Brekely shore around 4:30pm.

As is normal HWY 80 was jammed and we were attempting to filter between the no1 and no2 lanes. Both of us were blocked aggressively and repeatedly so many times that I lost count. Swerving last second lane changes are to be expected. As are the rare, intentional block.

What we encountered was deliberate and repeated swerving and pinching manouvers by vehicle after vehicle over a stretch of 2-3 miles :wtf

rodr · Feb 17, 2013

OldMadBrit said:
...
What we encountered was deliberate and repeated swerving and pinching manouvers by vehicle after vehicle over a stretch of 2-3 miles

Videos of stuff like that would be a great addition to the educational video that monkeyneck and revnort were talking about making.

OldMadBrit · Feb 18, 2013

rodr said:
Videos of stuff like that would be a great addition to the educational video that monkeyneck and revnort were talking about making.

Yes, sadly I generally only use my camera for track days. I may reconsider this.

shaun b · Feb 18, 2013

TheRiddler said:
- Some lanes are narrower than others, leaving little room to pass safely. If you can't fit, don't split.

- Some vehicles are wider than others -- it is not advisable to split near wide trucks. If you can't fit, don't split.

- Know the limitations of your motorcycle --- wide bars, fairing and bags require more space between vehicles. If you can't fit, don't split.

(From the expanded link in the first post. It doesn't directly answer your question, but I'd say it's fine. The break-down lane is not okay, and is a great way to get a nail in your tire.)

Yeah, I wasn't one either shoulder at all, just road the line or just inside of it.

and was mindfull of the gap, making sure i had plenty of room.

I was just wondering what the official or unofficial rules were in that sort of situation.

rodr · Feb 28, 2013

Here's a pretty good lane sharing video that I ran across today.

[youtube]2vi1UzqiXmY[/youtube]

Surj · Mar 1, 2013

rodr said:
Here's a pretty good lane sharing video that I ran across today.

[youtube]2vi1UzqiXmY[/youtube]

That's a pretty snazzy video - thanks for posting it.

I've started capturing stock and test footage on my daily commute for the video project that Revnort and I are working on. The bummer about the GoPro footage is that the lense makes it look like you're hauling ass even when you're going pretty slow. I've showed footage to my wife where I've dropped it down as low as 10 MPH, and even then she thinks it looks fast - because of how the cars look like they're really moving as they go out of frame. I'm concerned about how drivers will perceive lane splitting in videos because of this - do they just say "See! He's going too fast!"?

FINALLY - Lane Sharing is supported in CA

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