Safer Splitting: A Guide for Noobs

[cheez]

I tend to agree, but I am also convinced that pulsing lights are incredibly annoying and create more ill-will toward splitting motorcycles than good. It is also my understanding that riding with pulsing lights/hazards is also illegal unless you're indicating a traffic hazard.

The vast majority of cagers are not in the way of a splitting moto. For those that are, a quick flash of your high beams should be all it takes. As others have noted, cars are not obligated to get out of your way.

Motorcycles are allowed to modulate their high/low beam headlight under CVC, at a rate of no more than 180 flashes per minute.

My Burgman 650 with the modulated headlight gets the split lane to open like Moses and the Red Sea, whereas my other bikes get much less favorable treatment. I don't consider it rude- I'll use any tactic I can to increase my likelihood of being observed.

 

[budman]

I saw two LS party fouls yesterday within two minutes.

First one was a way high speed differential. Dude on a cruiser of some type. Not a huge one.

Both lanes were morphing at 5-10mph. Rider was going an estimated 30-35. I was shocked at how fast he was splitting. The LS Speeder would have zero shot of reacting to a fast lane changer IMO. Certainly a LEO would have had a case for a ticket for sure.

The second was maybe not a foul.. was an R1 splitting between lanes 2 & 3. His differential was OK I was in lane 3 and even though I watch my mirrors for bikes ( I saw him coming) many drivers don't unless they are in lane 1/2. Not all do then either of course.

This was on 101 So. before Fair Oaks so perhaps he was heading over to get off the freeway. I know that a lot of the lane 1/2 is screwed pavement or lack there off on 101 and I quickly glanced and confirmed this was not one of those spots.

I see plenty of riders do it right. The few that don't stand out for sure.

 

[Matty D]

Thanks for clarifying the rules. I'm not in a place to check right now to confirm, but assuming you're right my opinion remains unchanged: Bright flashing lights are annoying to drivers and create a "holier than thou"/entitled dynamic out there that can result in backlash. But I consider splitting a privilege, not a right.

 

[DataDan]

Cross-traffic hazards in the city

Somewhere up there ^ I wrote:

Don't enter an open intersection until you have a good view to potential threats. Approach slowly until you can see if there are crossing vehicles, pedestrians, or oncoming left-turners. If so, yield.
​

This is a city-street issue rather than a freeway issue, of course, but it can come in different ways. You're splitting traffic that has stopped at a mid-block crosswalk, at an uncontrolled intersection marked KEEP CLEAR, or at a yellow light you can easily beat. Then, as you enter the open area ahead of the stopped vehicles, you're suddenly dealing with a threat. It could be a car on a cross street or one turning left from an oncoming lane or a driveway on the right, or it could be a pedestrian or bicyclist.

My advice is to slow down as you approach the opening to give yourself time to spot and avoid whatever might enter your path. Further, I recommend that you yield to the threat. With a ped, it's a matter of law; with a vehicle, the law may be in your favor, but the law of undesirable consequences is not.

Here's a good example of just this kind of situation:

[YOUTUBE]Z5Mr2RZUdTY[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Enchanter]

He covered it pretty well. Interesting that he didn’t comment on filtering / splitting with oncoming traffic.

 

[DataDan]

More on cross-traffic hazards when splitting in town:

Yesterday, Sunday July 5, a rider was filtering on the double-yellow up to the red light here...

[maps]https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!4v1594052878249!6m8!1m7!1sNho9yIqFIm4p6JIC3nEFxg!2m2!1d32.7495453973233!2d-117.2435189541173!3f53.319036359173595!4f0.8505446366185367!5f0.7820865974627469[/maps]

...when a pedestrian crossed from the right, between stopped vehicles. The ped was hit by the motorcycle, dislocating a hip. The rider fled after dumping his woman passenger (who apparently ratted him out).

Often, just keeping speed down and watching carefully for pedestrians will be enough. But with so many large vehicles on the road today, you sometimes won't be able to see the threat until it's too late. If there's a gap between stopped cars and you can't see over, around, or through the vehicle next to you, expect a threat until you're in a position to see that there isn't one.

 

[budman]

Understandable accident... running though??

Has to be another reason.

Heal up young lady.

 

[DataDan]

More big-rig danger

Another tragic reminder about the danger of splitting alongside a big rig, this one in Los Angeles County.

[maps]https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!4v1598647690009!6m8!1m7!1sftyNfT7tdwS1FGN36Ysiyg!2m2!1d33.91714936914205!2d-118.0548267082153!3f260.6724395689039!4f-8.76724438890652!5f1.9184779996724184[/maps]
looking west on westbound Imperial Highway at Shoemaker Ave in unincorporated Los Angeles County

A motorcyclist was splitting lanes 1-2 approaching the intersection on a red light, and he came to a stop between a tractor-trailer and another vehicle. Attempting to walk the motorcycle forward, he slipped and fell under the trailer's wheels. When the light turned green, the truck driver didn't see the fallen rider and accelerated ahead. The 60-something Whittier man was transported to the hospital but later died.

RIP, fellow rider and Whittierite.

 

[ScottRNelson]

A motorcyclist was splitting lanes 1-2 approaching the intersection on a red light, and he came to a stop between a tractor-trailer and another vehicle. Attempting to walk the motorcycle forward, he slipped and fell under the trailer's wheels. When the light turned green, the truck driver didn't see the fallen rider and accelerated ahead.

Wow, that's one case when I was actually willing to split alongside a semi, except that I wouldn't do it if it was so tight I had to stop part way through to walk the bike past. Thanks for the reminders of unsafe practices to avoid.


Splitting isn't allowed where I live now and I don't know if I'll ever ride in California again, so I don't expect to run into that case in the future.

 

[vtwinpower]

I appreciate your input and time spent doing this.

I have one item to add if you haven't spoken about it:
For newbies mainly, at 55mph you are traveling 80 feet per second!!
Let's half that, at 25mph you travel 40 feet, 40 FEET!! 1 second reaction time and 1 second to apply the brakes=80 feet= over 4 car lengths.
If you are lane splitting at that speed (which you do every day passing my truck) you will travel twice that before stopping. No way out, slow down, give yourself just a little extra time and space please.
Like it was mentioned in the first post, at slower speed you make up more time.

 

[harouken]

Thanks Dan! Just read all your posts and they were very insightful. Any advice on LS when group riding?

 

[DataDan]

Thanks Dan! Just read all your posts and they were very insightful. Any advice on LS when group riding?

The easy answer is "don't" but that's not realistic. On a group ride, especially in the Bay Area, you're going to encounter traffic, and splitting may be the fastest and safest way through it.

However, don't forget the spacing requirement. Somewhere up there ^ I said something like "don't tailgate" and recommended following at least 2 seconds when splitting behind another bike.

The reason is that the trailing rider may not anticipate braking by the lead rider. When you're in front, you can probably predict an incursion by a driver eager to change lanes. You see the open space, you see him looking in that direction, you may even get half a blink from his turn signal, so you roll off or brake to avoid a crash. But the guy behind you doesn't have your vantage point, so he can't react to the anticipated incursion. Instead, he reacts to your reaction, and may not have enough time and space to avoid rear-ending you. And if there are more bikes behind him, the ugliness compounds.

This isn't just a theoretical possibility. I have several fatal crashes in my archives that happened this way, and it's often the lead rider who gets the worst of it. When splitting in a group, maintain your own space cushion and insist that the others do the same.

 

[ScottRNelson]

The easy answer is "don't" but that's not realistic. On a group ride, especially in the Bay Area, you're going to encounter traffic, and splitting may be the fastest and safest way through it.

I would say "don't in groups larger than three bikes". Much more than that and it's tough to safely stay together. I like being number three in a group of three, though, because the first two tend to clear a path so that you have plenty of room. Same thing following a CHP bike.

 

[cal scott]

While I generally agree with Scott, don't let your guard down if you are following someone. Expect the unexpected. I commonly observe cars moving to make room for the first rider and then, not anticipating another rider behind them, move back to their original position or even overcompensate and close the gap further.

 

[Rayyymomo]

Thanks for the info...It really warned me how dangerous riding is

 

[DataDan]

Thanks for the info...It really warned me how dangerous riding is

And something more, I hope: Lane splitting can be dangerous, but almost always in predictable ways. Knowledge of where and how trouble begins, along with good habits of observation, positioning, and speed reduces the risk to a level most riders find acceptable.

 

[DataDan]

No, they're not trying to kill you

In post #2 of this thread I made a big deal about attitude, by which I mean readiness to perceive conditions and events in certain ways and react accordingly. A good attitude syncs up nicely with reality--perceptions will reflect what's really happening. A bad attitude does not. This matters because attitude creates expectations, and expectations that correctly account for driver motivations and intentions enable accurate predictions of specific actions.

Short version: If you think drivers are trying to kill you while splitting (they're not) your predictions about what they might do will be wrong 99.9% of the time, and you won't be able to avoid unintentional incursions.

Here's a New Zealander who has it all wrong:

A motorcyclist has issued an impassioned plea for motorists to stop cutting them off as they weave through traffic, saying it puts them in serious danger. The man posted on a Tauranga community Facebook page ahead of the Easter long weekend reminding motorists to be careful.

"When traffic is moving slow and you see a motorcyclist lane splitting (moving between vehicles) do not try and cut them off!"

He continued on to say that just because the person may not like a motorcyclist weaving through traffic, it doesn't give them the right to cut the biker off, as it's a legal manoeuvre in New Zealand.

"This happens to me and other riders far too often and those arrogant drivers doing this to riders for no reason at all has to stop. By cutting off that motorcyclist you are committing a dangerous act that could put the rider in serious to life-threatening harm even at slow speeds."​

Drivers cut off lane-splitting motorcyclists because they're simply trying to change lanes, though perhaps carelessly. They don't want to wreck their car or ruin their day.

A lane change is more likely where there is:

• a gap in the opposite lane to move into
• a large speed differential between lanes
• a junction where freeways join or divide
• a forced merge when a lane ends or is blocked

Keep your head and eyes up and look for these situations. On a familiar route like your daily commute, you may be surprised at how well you can predict and avoid problems. Post #14 lists some preventive measures to avoid a cut-off.

 

[fadkar]

Thank you for sharing these helpful tips, Dan. How would you suggest positioning oneself once you’ve filtered through a row of cars at a stop light?

Should you stay in between the two cars and quickly accelerate once the light turns green? This feels risky because someone could be running a red light and hit you.

Or should you position yourself in front of one of the cars? The risk with this strategy is that the driver behind you may not see you and then run you over as the light turns green. I’ve heard people suggest that you should give your engine a couple of light revs to get the attention of the driver behind you to mitigate this risk. The other potential downside here is that the light could turn green while you’re in the process of turning in front of the car and you could get hit.

 

[DataDan]

Thank you for sharing these helpful tips, Dan. How would you suggest positioning oneself once you’ve filtered through a row of cars at a stop light?

Should you stay in between the two cars and quickly accelerate once the light turns green? This feels risky because someone could be running a red light and hit you.

Or should you position yourself in front of one of the cars? The risk with this strategy is that the driver behind you may not see you and then run you over as the light turns green. I’ve heard people suggest that you should give your engine a couple of light revs to get the attention of the driver behind you to mitigate this risk. The other potential downside here is that the light could turn green while you’re in the process of turning in front of the car and you could get hit.

Stop between lanes at the limit line. If you have to sneak past the line a little because another vehicle has, do it. You need a clear view left and right.

Accelerate just hard enough to get out of the way. Drivers sometimes need to change lanes after launch to position themselves for a turn in the next block, so you want to clear quickly.

One risk here, as you note, is a crossing vehicle running the red, since you will be first into the intersection. A less obvious risk is an oncoming left-turner either running the red or, when there is no protected left, attempting to beat opposing traffic through as soon as the light turns green. Maintain 100% awareness of the situation so you don't launch into the path of another vehicle. This is not a good time to read that new text or select music.

Do not move into a lane. That will inconvenience the driver and put you in danger. See the last example in post #4. I have others, too. After reading about a crash where the rider had snuck in front of a truck at a red light and was killed when slow to launch, I asked a truck driver to let me park my motorcycle in front of his rig and then sit in his driver's seat to see what I could see. The motorcycle was not visible.

 

[ScottRNelson]

Should you stay in between the two cars and quickly accelerate once the light turns green? This feels risky because someone could be running a red light and hit you.

I have never found it all that hard to check traffic before the light goes green to make sure nobody is coming.

I can still remember once in Pleasanton on W Las Positas at Hopyard when I could see someone was going to run the red light and the guy in the car next to me just stepped on it when the light went green. I doubt he even realize how close he came to hitting the other car. I was trying to hold my hand out to motion him to stop, but that didn't help at all.

At intersections with turn lanes with their own lights, it's pretty easy to be sure that you can proceed safely as soon as the light goes green.