Is it well known to car drivers that bikes can use bus lanes?

[Squeak the Rat]

Just a rant really: I left home late this morning and finally got an opportunity to feel smug passing 2km worth of cars while using the bus lane. It doesn't seem that the stupid sods sitting in their tin tops enjoyed it as much as me as I had 3 car drivers feel the need to vent with their horns as i passed, then one eeeejit leant out his window and yelled some abuse. Quite amusing.

Then to top it off some noddy decided if I could do it then so could she, in her nissan bluebird. After 700m of her following me i just stopped dead in the empty bus lane next to a huge queue of cars and pointed at the bus sign. :nya: She looked an interesting mix of angry and embarrassed.

Do these fools not know the rules? Or are they just in vast need of some diazepam (Valium).

[Ixion]

Half don't know the rules. The other half don't think the rules should apply to them Bit like bikers, really.

[Wasp]

well ovbiously you dont know that they dont know so the ovbious conclusion is they dont know...

[GR81]

didnt think you were allowed to on bus lanes on the motorway?

[Squeak the Rat]

Was this on the motorway on on ep highway?

there are some dumb divers out there!
Ha! That would have been funny if it was on motorway, until the HP boys saw me. No, it was Great South Rd in Auckland.

I think the nitrogen bubbles must have got in their brains or something. :wacko:

[WickedOne]

Bikes are not allowed on Motorway "bus lanes".

[skelstar]

In my 30-odd thousand kms of riding Ive only been tooted at twice. And I ride semi-outside of the law too.

[PuppetMaster]

Bikes are not allowed on Motorway "bus lanes".

Buses and Suzuki's.:yes:

[Insanity_rules]

I've had people close up on me while splitting before, so when I'm in my cage on the Welly city crawl I move over for bikers to let them through. So there you go Welly crew thats how you can tell its me in the traffic. To my experience I'm the only one.

[Pwalo]

I've had people close up on me while splitting before, so when I'm in my cage on the Welly city crawl I move over for bikers to let them through. So there you go Welly crew thats how you can tell its me in the traffic. To my experience I'm the only one.

Bless you young man.

[XP@]

Half don't know the rules. The other half don't think the rules should apply to them Bit like bikers, really.
and the other, but more dangerous, half know the wrong rules.

[WRT]

and the other, but more dangerous, half know the wrong rules.

And the fourth half are just really bad at maths.

[beyond]

Love these motorists who think they are Judge and Jury and need to teach us bikers when they think we are out of line. I wake up every day extremely excited and shaking with anticipation at the thought of going out there and getting taught how to ride by all the cagers. :)

Love it when they scream abuse cos they think you are wrong and they are right. Oh, the sheer joy when they close the gap cos they think the paintwork on their cars needs a good seeing to.

Just about piss myself when I see there red screaming faces and the veins popping out of their foreheads when they think you are getting away with something they seem to think you shouldn't be.

Just about roll off my bike with sheer masochistic joy, when you see their arms pumping their horns trying to get off by giving you a lesson.

Bunch of :tugger:

:innocent:

[vifferman]

I've never had people close up on me - the opposite in fact, moving over to give me more room.
However, I have had people yell at me, but only a few in my nearly 9 years of commuting. The best one was splitting between stationary traffic and parked cars, so I could turn left, and a lady parked in her Volvo was outraged. And impotent, as she couldn't wind her window down to tell me off, so she just banged on it furiously as I crawled past.

Oh how I laughed! :laugh: :killingme

[Lou Girardin]

Its a stupid rule and its transit cutting of their nose to spite their face. Its more dangerous to lane split and thats not illegal.

Make this man Commissioner, right now!

[Swoop]

Love these motorists who think they are Judge and Jury and need to teach us bikers... ...Oh, the sheer joy when they close the gap cos they think the paintwork on their cars needs a good seeing to.
It is surprising the amount of cage drivers who think that way...
They seem to consider that elbows and mirrors do not match either...:blip:

[Swoop]

Make this man Commissioner, right now!
Gets my vote!

[Skyryder]

Stay away from busses on a bike. You're gonna lose.

Skyryder

[BuFfY]

A few weeks ago when I was in the traffic I saw a biker get pulled over my a cop for going along the bus lane. After recieving his ticked/warning we went along the bus lane! Good man that was! Gave me a giggle first thing in the morning!

[GR81]

In all honesty though i think there are some serious problems in the road code.
understatement of the year award! :first:

[Jantar]

A few weeks ago when I was in the traffic I saw a biker get pulled over my a cop for going along the bus lane. After recieving his ticked/warning we went along the bus lane! Good man that was! Gave me a giggle first thing in the morning!

Now that is one ticket I would love to get. I can already imagine the fun I could have defending it. The law was written with the motorway bus lanes in mind, and transit have absolutely no authority to attempt to exclude motorcyclists. Bikes are only prohibited when Specificly excluded by signage. "Busses Only" doesn't exclude bikes.

[The Pastor]

Love these motorists who think they are Judge and Jury and need to teach us bikers when they think we are out of line. I wake up every day extremely excited and shaking with anticipation at the thought of going out there and getting taught how to ride by all the cagers. :)

Love it when they scream abuse cos they think you are wrong and they are right. Oh, the sheer joy when they close the gap cos they think the paintwork on their cars needs a good seeing to.

Just about piss myself when I see there red screaming faces and the veins popping out of their foreheads when they think you are getting away with something they seem to think you shouldn't be.

Just about roll off my bike with sheer masochistic joy, when you see their arms pumping their horns trying to get off by giving you a lesson.

Bunch of :tugger:

:innocent:


Heres a tip. Ride with a BIG chain and BIG padlock. Stop and wait for the person yelling abuse - you know to have a friendly chat...

[beyond]

Heres a tip. Ride with a BIG chain and BIG padlock. Stop and wait for the person yelling abuse - you know to have a friendly chat...

:) Very intimidating for sure and would very much have the desired effect.
Wouldn't like to come off with a large chain and padlock around my neck though. Could get real nasty and then the cagers would think us bikers are right into a bit of B & D as well. :

[Meanie]

I've had people close up on me while splitting before, so when I'm in my cage on the Welly city crawl I move over for bikers to let them through. So there you go Welly crew thats how you can tell its me in the traffic. To my experience I'm the only one.
I pull over in my cage when it your welly maddness as well

[mini_me]

Stay away from busses on a bike. You're gonna lose.

Skyryder

that has to be the best piece of advice I have seen on here for a _very_ long time

m/m

[Squeak the Rat]

Originally Posted by Skyryder
Stay away from busses on a bike. You're gonna lose.

that has to be the best piece of advice I have seen on here for a _very_ long time

m/m

Rubbish! I'd have a much better power to weight ratio.....

[XTC]

Heres a tip. Ride with a BIG chain and BIG padlock. Stop and wait for the person yelling abuse - you know to have a friendly chat...
Yeah that's fine till you meet a car driver that has a bigger chain and a bigger padlock! I also am one of these riders that have no real problems with the car drivers out there...... Please, what am I doing wrong? Sometimes your attitude on the road means you'll be more likely to get "attitude" back I suppose.
Just my .02

[bert_is_evil]

I was filtering in Wellington last week when I cruised past a big truck, the guy must have been pissed that I could get past him when he was so big and I was so small so he beeped his million decibel truck super horn at me when I was right beside him. Scared the crap out of me! I wonder what would have happened if I'd been momentarily paralysed with shock (which I kind of was) and swerved in front of the truck. Surely it's just as illegal to misuse your horn like that?

[mini_me]

Rubbish! I'd have a much better power to weight ratio.....

yeah well, i took on two on the motorway once on my nc30...
i lost...
m/m

[Jantar]

Err while i do think that the law is stupid, transit actually do have authority over the motorways.

Its a paint but getting yourself charged to try and beat it probably isnt the most logical way to try and get it ammended.

Perhaps I chose the wrong wording in saying that Transit have absolutely no authority to attempt to exclude motorcyclists. In fact they do have the authority, but only if they put up signage that specificly excludes motorcycles. Where the signs say "Bus Lane" or "Busses Only" then motorcycles can use the lane. To be specificly excluded the sign must read "Busses Only, Motorcycles and cycles prohibited"

This is from the Land Transport NZ website on bus lanes http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/road-user-safety/new-road-rules/rur-qas.html

Can motorcycles use bus lanes?Yes, unless specifically excluded by signs.

How do I know it’s a bus lane?The words BUS LANE will be marked on the road, indicating the lane is for this purpose.

Transit try to get around this by claiming that the Bus Lanes on Auckland's motorway aren't actually bus lanes, but are emergency vehicle lanes that they allow busses to use. But there is no provision in any legislation that gives Transit the right to allow any vehicles other than emergency vehicles to use emergency vehicle lanes. As soon as the sign goes up saying Busses only, or Bus Lane, then motorcyclists csn use it.

A close friend of mine was an MP on the transport select committee when this was discussed, and the change was designed mainly to allow motorcyclists a safer option than lane splitting on the motorway. Unfortuntely he lost his seat at the last election, so we motorcyclists have lost another voice in parliament.

[Shadows]

I've had people close up on me while splitting before, so when I'm in my cage on the Welly city crawl I move over for bikers to let them through. So there you go Welly crew thats how you can tell its me in the traffic. To my experience I'm the only one.

Nah you're not.

[scracha]

I was filtering in Wellington last week when I cruised past a big truck, the guy must have been pissed that I could get past him when he was so big and I was so small so he beeped his million decibel truck super horn at me when I was right beside him. Scared the crap out of me! I wonder what would have happened if I'd been momentarily paralysed with shock (which I kind of was) and swerved in front of the truck. Surely it's just as illegal to misuse your horn like that?

I know I'm generalising but as it would normally take two truckies to make a halfwit then you're wasting your time.

Perhaps someone should print off stickers saying "lane filtering is legal for motorcycles" or "bikes CAN use bus-lanes". Mibby with the relevant law blurb below in smaller lettering? I'm not talking about sticking them on the bike's either. The next time a cager bleeps the horn or attempts the blocking manouvere then just slap the sticker on their car. They'll get the message...as will all the cagers around them.

[Magua]

I was filtering in Wellington last week when I cruised past a big truck, the guy must have been pissed that I could get past him when he was so big and I was so small so he beeped his million decibel truck super horn at me when I was right beside him. Scared the crap out of me! I wonder what would have happened if I'd been momentarily paralysed with shock (which I kind of was) and swerved in front of the truck. Surely it's just as illegal to misuse your horn like that?

I split past a big truck to get onto the motorway, waiting for lights I started blipping my throttle. Ring....Ring....Ring....just quitely. I hear the trucks engine matching my revvs. Ring, Rrrrr, Ring, Rrrrr. :laugh: .150L motorcycle, God knows how big an engine on that beast. I gave him and nod and disapered when the lights changed colour.

[Kjell]

Rubbish! I'd have a much better power to weight ratio.....

I think it is more the stop to weight ratio. and the manoveuring characteristics and visability of a bus is limited to state the obvious

[Squeak the Rat]

I think it is more the stop to weight ratio. and the manoveuring characteristics and visability of a bus is limited to state the obvious

Especially when the bus is on a bike.


Stay away from busses on a bike. You're gonna lose.

[Speedracer]

But I had a look on LTSA's website and I'd agree, motorcyclists should be able to use it unless specifically excluded.

Otherwise why bother saying 'motorcycles can use bus lanes' in the road code?