Lane splitting appears to be being policed in Wellington

[Berg]

OK, my take on lane splitting in Wgtn being that I'm a road policing resource (remembering that this is MY TAKE only and not necessarily the bosses or other police members opinion).
I'm ok with lane splitting as long as the rider is doing it at a reasonable speed (let's just say not doing warp factor 9), the rider isn't clipping mirrors etc, the rider is not forcing the traffic to move for them (Mr Harley rider by the terrace tunnel, this means you) and the traffic is not overly jam packed.
What I do see as a problem is riders who continue to lane split near and through major merge points and riders who insist on passing up the left on the hard shoulder. The Pukerua Bay hill from Plimmerton up is a classic for this. In my humble experience I find the shoulder less safe there than lane splitting and here's my reason why.
If you are between lanes two and three splitting and the person in lane two (right lane) urgently needs to stop they know they still have lane one traffic to deal with so hopefully they might open their normally sleepy eyes and look before pulling left. Anybody in lane one (left lane) is not expecting to see traffic on their left so when the phone goes off (because we all know nobody drives while on the phone) or the baby chunders or they run out of gas most of them will just swing left without looking cleaning up any motorcyclist steaming up the hard shoulder.
Just my one cent (two cents was giving it too much credit)

[swbarnett]

What I do see as a problem is riders who continue to lane split near and through major merge points

Any particular reason for this? Is your objection reserved for those between lanes 1 & 2 (closes to the on-ramp)? Or do you consider between 2 & 3 bad in this situation also?

and riders who insist on passing up the left on the hard shoulder.

Totally agree. This is just scuicidal. I've seen cyclists taken out doing this for exactly the reasons you stated.

[Berg]

Any particular reason for this? Is your objection reserved for those between lanes 1 & 2 (closes to the on-ramp)? Or do you consider between 2 & 3 bad in this situation also?

Between lanes two and three are normally OK at merge points but so many vehicles change lanes at these points either for courtesy sakes (allowing others on or off) or panic and dive for offramps that it becomes just that bit more risky.


Totally agree. This is just scuicidal. I've seen cyclists taken out doing this for exactly the reasons you stated.

Cyclists going down the gorge on the left in their Lycra and stackhats

[SPman]

You very seldom see cars on the motorway simply side-swipe each other.

You've obviously never driven in Perth!

[swbarnett]

Cyclists going down the gorge on the left in their Lycra and stackhats

I'm a bit further north than that. This happened on residential roads in Auckland.

[RDJ]

You've obviously never driven in Perth!

Nor in Singapore...

[Clockwork]

OK, my take on lane splitting in Wgtn being that I'm a road policing resource (remembering that this is MY TAKE only and not necessarily the bosses or other police members opinion).
I'm ok with lane splitting as long as the rider is doing it at a reasonable speed (let's just say not doing warp factor 9), the rider isn't clipping mirrors etc, the rider is not forcing the traffic to move for them (Mr Harley rider by the terrace tunnel, this means you) and the traffic is not overly jam packed.
What I do see as a problem is riders who continue to lane split near and through major merge points and riders who insist on passing up the left on the hard shoulder. The Pukerua Bay hill from Plimmerton up is a classic for this. In my humble experience I find the shoulder less safe there than lane splitting and here's my reason why.
If you are between lanes two and three splitting and the person in lane two (right lane) urgently needs to stop they know they still have lane one traffic to deal with so hopefully they might open their normally sleepy eyes and look before pulling left. Anybody in lane one (left lane) is not expecting to see traffic on their left so when the phone goes off (because we all know nobody drives while on the phone) or the baby chunders or they run out of gas most of them will just swing left without looking cleaning up any motorcyclist steaming up the hard shoulder.
Just my one cent (two cents was giving it too much credit)

Cyclists and scooters use the hard shoulder all the time, (and I understand that they are legally as much vehicles as motorcycles and cars) which is why it is beholden upon ALL road users to look before entering the shoulder regardless.

[swbarnett]

Cyclists and scooters use the hard shoulder all the time, (and I understand that they are legally as much vehicles as motorcycles and cars)

Not legal as long as the traffic to the right is moving. Even for cyclists as I understand it. I'm not sure if this changes if the cyclist is using a marked cycle lane?

which is why it is beholden upon ALL road users to look before entering the shoulder regardless.

Irrespective of the legality this is good practice; part of one's situational awareness.

[bounce]

thanks for all the comments guys,
1) the infringement came back entitled 'passing on the left' so I will write a letter stating the fact that I was within my lane markings at the time and see if that gets me anywhere.
2) the officer didn't bother to fill in my drivers licence number on the infringement. Does this in any way invalidate the notice in NZ? seems to me like it should be a mandatory field really..

And I honestly don't have a problem with policing of dangerous splitting, some guys ride like plonkers, glaring at cars when they try to change lanes even after indicating for 3 seconds and cutting through tiny gaps and using the breakdown lane etc.. but as others have posted, when traffic is peak hour, I honestly feel safer being between the lanes than sitting between cars. I've been riding ten years and been driven into the back of 3 times at traffic lights, so I am not super confident in our 4 wheeled friends ability to determine the existence of a motorcycle when they are following behind it

[GrayWolf]

To put things in perspective, a friend of mine just wrote off his bike lanesplitting. Car changed lane, he swerved and ran into the back of another car at speed. He's off work on ACC. Funny thing about KB is that you never hear about lanesplitting failures with people only ready to admit their successes.

Don't get me wrong - I lane split heavily, love that I'm able to do it do and will continue to promote and do it for as long as I can. The difference is that I am under no illusion about the risks/dangers and benefits/costs to society regarding lane splitting. Saying lane splitting is safer is delusional. The argument "lane split to avoid getting rear ended" is laughable at best. You may have fooled yourself but don't expect others to buy into your fantasy... outside of these forums that is


Yes great idea.....in a fantasy world where roads are free to build, motorbike accidents and injury rehabilitation costs (and resulting loss of productivity) are acceptable, and car driver re-education is 100% successful. I'd say that someone a lot smarter than you and I has already crunched the numbers and (judging by their response) has concluded that motorcycle uptake is NOT to be encouraged.

I think the operative word in that accident was 'SPEED'... ...
A good and safe rule of thumb, dont lane split above 50kph, and dont travel more than 20kph quicker relative to the traffic speed. it they are doing 10, no more than 30kph.. and even then i would say that can be too fast in some traffic conditions.

[swbarnett]

A good and safe rule of thumb, dont lane split above 50kph,

This will certainly help one avoid unwanted attention from the constabulary. However, with a strong safety focus one can split safely to higher speeds.

and dont travel more than 20kph quicker relative to the traffic speed.

This is what's important. It matters little what speed the traffic around you is doing (within reason). This is why it is possible to play table tennis in a smooth, fast moving train.

and even then i would say that can be too fast in some traffic conditions.

Indeed, this is the most important point that can be made about lane-splitting (or any other manoeuvre). One must always make a value judgement to stop things going pear shaped.

[Katman]

The trouble is that we can't be sure that 1. TPTB have all the data (sorry to be pedantic but they can at best have all the available data).....

We should probably be thankful that they don't have all the data.

[Rhys]

Don't bother writing a leter they will only send out a generic "we have looked at your claim and on you are wrong "

Ask for a court hearing, that is the only way you will have a chance

[Paul in NZ]

What I do see as a problem is riders who continue to lane split near and through major merge points and riders who insist on passing up the left on the hard shoulder. The Pukerua Bay hill from Plimmerton up is a classic for this. In my humble experience I find the shoulder less safe there than lane splitting and here's my reason why.

Normally I would agree re the hard shoulder but at Pukerua Bay I think its actually the safest place as long as you are NOT doing a billion kph.

Going up the middle creates a bit of confusion where the two lanes merge near the top and its easier to move up the left shoulder and through a gap after all the merging has happened to the wide center bit and pass up to the top of the hill where there is always a good gap to slot into.

I note that I'm not a wild lane splitter as I ride a bike wider than Kansas and am never in that much of a rush to get to work... Going home up Pukerau Bay Hill is different. It should be encouraged there as crawling up a steepish hill on a bike is just plain asking for it. You will miss foot and fall over at some point... Not to mention the chaos to an air cooled engine creeping up there... Its a horrible bit of road design for a motorcycle...

While on that subject. Can you please find out the persons name who designed the left turn at the bottom of the Paekakareki Hill road. Getting the Sprint around that without wobbling halfway to the ocean is a PIA... Not to mention being bloody dangerous - it really is a shocking thing...

[Swoop]

... glaring at cars when they try to change lanes even after indicating for 3 seconds...

You indicate for a minimum of 3 seconds and then move IF THE WAY IS CLEAR. It is NOT a given right to move simply because you have indicated for the required 3 seconds.