Lane splitting rules?

[fritter]

Today a bike cop came up to warn us that he could give a $150 fine for lane splitting. A few questions later, it would seem that he for one thinks that he can do this regardless of whether the traffic had stopped or not, and regardless of whether we split on the left or the right side of the traffic.

The last time I spoke to a cop about this he said it was perfectly legal to do it at traffic lights, but not in moving traffic, and you can't make your own lane (ie riding down one of those painted median strips lol).

I've never actually been issued a ticket, but if the cop is an ass, can he actually get away with fining you for this? With the traffic stopped or otherwise?

I admit I haven't looked at a road code for a while now - but from what I've seen here it doesn't make things much more clear...

Any traffic lawyers in da house?

[marty]

have a look at the gettin wit the mad cop flava in the rave on threads for everything you need to know about filtering. why didn't he give you a ticket?

[bikerboy]

The bottom line is IF the cop WANTS to give you a ticket he can. You COULD try and fight it based on the road code etc. but all he has to do is imply that's not what you were doing or that it was dangerous in those circumstance in HIS opinion.

Very few judges would take your point of view over his.:argh:

[fritter]

Originally posted by marty
why didn't he give you a ticket?

maybe because there were two of us, and he had better things to do, or maybe he just didn't want to stand around answering our questions about road rules all day (it was raining at the time)...

of course it is possible that he was just trying to let us know the rules (which are not clearly defined) without being a prick about it.

To be honest most of the cops I've dealt with are pretty reasonable. There is always the "I am the law" judge dredd wannabe floating around - but as a rule if you are polite, so are they...

Good info in the mad cop flava thread though - figured someone would have put something somewhere before - ta :niceone:

[wkid_one]

Two things here

If the traffic is stationary he can't,
if it is moving he can 'failure to stay in lane', 'unsafe lane change'

[fritter]

yer - one of the reasons he gave me for it being a ticketable offence was that there was a risk that we could knock mirrors(that we were liable for that blah blah no shit sherlock), and getting your jacket caught on a mirror etc could cause you to have an accident - So the law has decided to make it an offence - it's there for our own saftey :brick:

I've always wondered how much of it in these cases was the cop attempting to be a creative thinker and how much was what he was actually told by the people that trained him....

Looks like we need to memorize some of the regs just so we can quote them to the cops when required lol

[wkid_one]

Why memorise - copy it and put it under your seat - let's see the cop argue his way out when you have a copy of it proving him wrong

[fritter]

ROTFL

I'd love to see the look on his face if you pulled a copy from under the seat with the appropriate bits marked...

I doubt the cop would find it very funny though - he'd be pretty likely to spend quite a while working out what he can do to you to get even.

Probably be worth it though... I'd have to have a camera ready too so I could capture the moment :D

[wkid_one]

Hey Fritter - you park outside ANZ??

If so, you, me, Mangell (Mike) and Bung Bund (Ola) should catch up for a ride?

 

[fritter]

yup that's me...

sounds good :niceone:

- let me know when you are up for it (your shoulder sorted?) we have a few in my office who are always keen too

[bikerboy]

Slightly :Offtopic:
Years ago when the new photo license was first issued the original law didn't void the existing licenses.
There was a case where this late 60's lady was ticketed for not having the photo version. She had the rule book and had memorized the legislation so she challenge the officer to site the relevant rule that made her license invalid. Of course he couldn't and after argueing with her for a while she was arrested for some obscure reason.

The whole thing was on Holmes or similar, pointing out the flaw in the new law etc., but she still was charged and fined for both breaches. If you start to challenge a cop be prepared for a whole raft of things to be thrown at you. They are never wrong even when they are. :argh:

[fritter]

and they wonder why they get a bad reputation...

It only takes one bad one to make them all look like arseholes - and you can guarantee that the guy who would pull you up for lane splitting is one of the bad ones :angry2:

[marty]

well if it was on holmes then it must be true....

[750Y]

I've been ticketed $150 for lane splitting. TBH it never changed my behaviour but made me look out for cops more. my understanding is that it's fine to undertake if the traffic is stopped.
Is it fine to overtake(on the right) of a car (within a lane) whilst the car is in motion?

[marty]

i posted the regs on the 'gettin down' thread, 750. my interpretation is that you can, as long as you have 100m clear viz, and do not cause interference

[Coldkiwi]

knocking mirrors? Surely only if being too careless and too agressive (if the gap looks too small it probably is.. wait a few seconds and it'll have opened up anyway)

HOOKING JACKETS!? Maybe if you had a frilly harley one fitted out with grappling hooks but all other motorcycle jackets I've seen have been fairly specifically designed such that there is nothing that could easily grab if you had a spill and cause more forces on your already battered torso in event of an off.

I think your plodder was being inventive with those ones fritter.

I'm with 750Y... getting ticketed before hasn't stopped me lane splitting down most of the motorway, it just makes me very observant of cops and their usual hiding spaces, but I do see plenty of other bikers who aren't as observant and will probably get hauled over in the near future.

The risks (unlikely $150 ticket and possible cosmetic damage (I hope))  don't outweight the rewards (30 minutes off my travelling time) for me. Shortsighted and possibly nieve on the injuries front perhaps but its the way I am.

 

 

 

[aff-man]

I rarely lanesplit even at red lights because from what i have read in the numerous comments on the subject, There is much interpretation on the law and therefore up to the police to decide what to do about it. Now if there was a specific to the point all incompassing law fine i'd know the risks ect.... But $150 is a lot of money and if i could get pulled over just because "somebody" is having a bad day I really would rather not risk it. Of course if i am riding with someone it becomes a different matter (or if i'm late for tech :D :D :beer: )

[jrandom]

Originally posted by Coldkiwi
The risks (unlikely $150 ticket and possible cosmetic damage (I hope)) don't outweight the rewards (30 minutes off my travelling time) for me

Right on, although please don't make the same booboo I did a few weeks ago - filtering down motorway at about 50km/h in the wet, car pulls across in front, nowhere to go, grab brakes, rear tyre makes an unexpected bid for freedom, bike goes down, leaves me sliding along on bum in fast lane feeling very foolish and rather sore. Fortunately I didn't hit the guy in front and the guy behind me had enough space to stop. My left-side handlebar clipon is still bent back toward the tank... must get around to finding a new (straight) one at the wreckers. Still rideable though, no other real damage.

Gotta be very aware of your bike's straight-line stopping ability when filtering, coz when someone tries to kill you in traffic, hauling up quickly in a straight line is going to be what saves your arse. There might not be any other escape routes.

[marty]

nothing like a lightweight 250 with brembos for that......

[wkid_one]

I have lane splitted past mufti, HWP, The orange jobbies and dog wagons at the lights with never an issue.  In fact, one cop wound his window down to ask me about my bike etc - which was a nice touch.

I honestly don't think cops have any issue with lane splitting at lights when no one is moving - what they do have an issue with is bikes cutting in and out of traffic when it is moving at a good clip or lane splitting at obscene speeds.

Provided you are lane splitting at lights in a orderly fashion I would almost g'tee you wouldn't get a ticket.

Lane splitting up the break down lane is asking for an instant ticket......

And at the end of the day - if you read you road code it is legal anyway

[marty]

i have a mate who has all the ticket wordings, amounts etc - i'll scan them in the next day or so and post them here.

[jrandom]

Originally posted by marty
nothing like a lightweight 250 with brembos for that......

Yes, I doubt I would've had the same accident on an RS, or in fact any 'proper' bike.

Still, as you'll see from my post above, it wasn't the brakes, it was the traction... World's Crappiest Rubber (tm) on a small Malaysian import Suzuki is not the best way to stay upright in the wet.

[fritter]

Originally posted by Coldkiwi
I think your plodder was being inventive with those ones fritter.

I find it worrying that so many seem to be so bad at creative thinking... even thinking in general... fook am I glad they don't carry guns as a rule!

Then I definitely wouldn't be quoting sections of the road code back to them! It would be "yes officer, no officer, three bags full officer" lol :D

[marty]

Originally posted by fritter
yer - one of the reasons he gave me for it being a ticketable offence was that there was a risk that we could knock mirrors(that we were liable for that blah blah no shit sherlock), and getting your jacket caught on a mirror etc could cause you to have an accident

FFS - what about those wanky big remuera tractors with bull bars - they'd rip off ya fucking ARM, not just a mirror. some of those highway/try hard traffic cops so need to get a life sometimes. you guys are right - there is a difference between being creative and being realistic..