Lane splitting/filtering: the legal and commonsense answers

[Swoop]

There is sometimes a big step down in surface level from the road to the bus lane, on the north western anyway.
Just a caution if you break down and have to use it one day.

Fairly uncommon now. The last re-seal of the road appears to have brought it up to the same level.
Still don't want to use the buslane with all the crap on it.

A bit like the bikeway. The amount of broken glass that ends up there is bad news for pushbike tyres!
Have seen the cops brushing glass off the road and onto the cycleway after an accident.

[reggie1198]

Four years as a courier, a couple of hours reading the regulations at the public library and a court case taught me this (plain English version):

It is OK to overtake on the RIGHT of a MOVING or STATIONARY vehicle within the same lane (unless it's indicating to turn right).

It is OK to overtake on the LEFT of a STATIONARY vehicle within the same lane (unless it's indicating to turn left).

It is AN OFFENCE to overtake on the LEFT of a MOVING vehicle in the same lane (unless it's indicating to turn right).

So, to sum up, because the laws to be concerned with relate to the vehicles in the same lane as you - the other lanes are other roads, effectively - if you're travelling down the right hand side of the cars within their lane, you're OK. If you're between the lane markers and left side of moving cars, you're committing an offence. If you're on the left and they're stationary, you're OK. Until they start moving. HOWEVER...

The court case taught me that if you're overtaking safely and legally on the right and one of those vehicles being overtaken is a Constable on a police motorcycle and he offers you a ticket for Overtaking Where Prohibited and you assert that you were in fact not overtaking where prohibted, he will advise you that he "will make it Careless Driving then, and sort it out in court" where two JPs will decide that your experience and admitted unlikelihood of having an accident are irrelevant because of the louder than standard aftermarket silencers your bike was fitted with, mentioned in passing by the prosecution, which might give the drivers of the cars you were passing a fright at the moment of passing, potentially resulting in a crash and that you were, therefore, guilty of Careless Driving and should pay $480 plus costs which is more than the unlicensed 16 yr old at the same hearing who 'borrowed' his uncle's car and at 1 am on a rainy Sunday morning with 3 passengers on board, travelled the wrong way up the one way part of Crummer Rd at more than twice the speed limit and rolled the car into several parked cars would have to pay [$400 plus costs]. Or the truck driver with only a car licence who rolled his fruit and veg delivery truck at the end of Waipuna Bridge taking out a set of traffic lights, covering the local landscape with oranges and causing a road closure for 3 hours should have to pay [$450 plus costs]. And further...

As Clockwork rightly points out in previous post http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=10838 every time you overtake a car on the left, that driver has firstly committed the offence of 'Failing to drive as near as practicable to the left side of the roadway', but I would be stunned if anyone in NZ has ever been issued a ticket for that.

Practical advice? It's cheaper to be fined for Overtaking Where Prohibited than Careless Driving. In stop-start traffic, it's safer between the sides of 2 cars than between the bumpers. The less time spent amongst the fumes of near-stationary traffic the better. And your time's worth money - if lane-splitting saves you an hour every work day for doing something you like, as it does me, that's 245 hours a year. Your annual leave only totals 120 hours. So, until the 'keep left' law starts being enforced, or the 'no overtaking on the left' law is repealed to allow the least-guilty motorway users unimpeded passage, for safety, mental and physical health, and timesaving I recommend...

Don't get me started.

I got stung with a ticket for overtaking on the left (about 14 years ago - on the northern motorway) also got done for riding on the wrong class of licence at the same time.

[MarkH]

I got stung with a ticket for overtaking on the left (about 14 years ago - on the northern motorway) also got done for riding on the wrong class of licence at the same time.

Do you recall what the fine was for overtaking on the left? Can someone tell us what the current fine is for that offence? I haven't been pulled over for it, but have been guilty of it plenty of times.

[Robtharalson]

When I'm commuting 105 miles a day the feeling from dealing with heavy traffic as effortlessly as the 919 with lanesplitter bars is capable of has to be, at least for me, the pinnacle of riding! This may sound a trifle strange coming from someone who so thoroughly revels in twisty asphalt, but the two are so completely different as to defy comparison past the obvious commonality of man and machine, and our symbosis.

I'm convinced it's the incessant variety and intensely dynamic nature of it that is addictive, but not in an adrenaline surge sort of way -- quite the contrary: there is a zen aspect to moving through traffic that requires a detachment from the immediate ... for at least part of my brain. Instincts will take care of what is directly in front of me with only minor additions of conscious attention to abet accuracy and smoothness, but the bulk of my awareness is toward the organism that is any group of cars, with ripples and eddies; crosscurrents; twitches and tremors; and just a soupçon of unpredictability that gives it spice.

Lane splitting is, of course, an integral part of the traffic experience, and requires a shift in my attention from the predominant awareness of traffic in general to a closer in subconscious focus on the 15 cars ahead in the lanes to each side of me, and the next lane over for its effect on cars on my right. The bulk of my conscious awareness, maybe 30% as compared to 5 to 10% when traffic is moving faster, is toward the four cars just ahead of me, and there is where things get difficult to describe. I have, for want of a better term, received messages from drivers as clearly as if they were talking in my ear, occasionally words, but more commonly a feeling of an earnest of intent to do something that I will have to deal with, particularly left turners. How much is the result of playing the "what if?" game for nigh on 40 years, and how much is something deeper I cannot say, but I've come to know how to sense all inputs and avoid situations before they become situations. As evidence of the effectiveness of this, I have not had to apply the brakes hard, much less panic stop, in over 20 years despite nearly daily exposure to the worst traffic L.A. can throw at me. Make no mistake, I've had to make some very quick maneuvers usually accompanied by judicious amounts of throttle (When in doubt, gas it!), but they are usually non events.
The foregoing is for those who can split lanes, and may I offer sympathy to those who cannot legally do so. Splitting is one of the best teachers of deadly accurate control and the finer points of reading traffic.

Everything I've said up to this point represents an ideal that happens quite often, but being human means you are not always on top of your game, and it can bite if you don't catch the warning signs and take more care.

The problem with learning this is there is no way I can think of to teach it other than describing it in as much detail as possible to make others aware that it is possible, but in the final analysis it takes lots of exposure and having all possible moves necessary to control the motorcycle so ingrained that even in a desperate situation no conscious thought about control is required, freeing up brain space for a more important task: first avoiding an accident, then eventually avoiding the necessity of avoidance.

My commute on a selected stretch of the 10 / 405 freeway. The microphone picked up wind noise and not much else, so turn the volume down.
[youtube]lEOwNXL76pg[/youtube]

And in case you're wondering, no I'm not insane! And I was to learn that there was a motor officer following me for about 5 miles on the 405 (he was behind me during this clip), and the worst I got from him was a thumbs up. If you're smooth and your speed is reasonable they don't seem to care what you do. Good old Los Angeles!

Rob

[MarkH]

And in case you're wondering, no I'm not insane! And I was to learn that there was a motor officer following me for about 5 miles on the 405 (he was behind me during this clip), and the worst I got from him was a thumbs up. If you're smooth and your speed is reasonable they don't seem to care what you do. Good old Los Angeles!

Rob

I watched through the video to see what there was that some would think was insane - nup, looked like plain ol' lanesplitting to me!

Every time I go on the motorway and the traffic is flowing well I feel a little disappointed - there is definitely something about getting to your destination while all those poor saps in their cars are barely moving. It is rare for me to not split at least a few times on my journey though - a bike is narrower than a car, why not take advantage of it!

[Sis]

the NZ Herald had a little article on lane splitting in this mornings paper

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10688399

[HappyGOriding]

Notice the comment made by ART a true cager that one especially the bit about bikes being difficult or impossible to see

[FROSTY:Me]

Notice the comment made by ART a true cager that one especially the bit about bikes being difficult or impossible to see

I'm sorry mon I've covered this off before and the guy is bang on the money as far as bikes being hard to see.
if you are in a "normal" sedan then reality is your rear visibility is about 3 cars back and is really limited to your lane and a bit of the lane either side of you.
Add to that the fact that in rush hour traffic you tend to be closer than perhaps legal and your focus is on whats in front not whats behind you.
A bike aproaching at 30km/h faster than the car is going IS going to catch him and apear pretty darned fast.
THAT ol son is reality.Either we as bikers accept it and work with that or we don't split lanes.
NOT having a go atcha here but life isn't fair and right and we as bikers are not the centre of the universe. --Me I accept that and ride accordingly

[cheshirecat]

the NZ Herald had a little article on lane splitting in this mornings paper

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10688399

"My understanding is that motorcycles are required to use a whole lane.."
Wonder where on earth he got that concept from

[BMWST?]

at 30 km an hour you are covering 8metres every second..and thats relative to the speed the traffic is going.So a bike can easliy appear within two or three car lengths from literally nowhere.Think about it .If you have an accident lanesplitting i reckon it s YOUR fault.Most motorcyclists lane split too fast IMHO.
I dont lane split unless the traffic is very very slow or stopped.If i do lane split i will most often use the safety shoulder.Yes i know its illegal but i think its the safest way to do it.I go quite slowly relative to the cars.And for those who lanesplit at 50 r 60 faster than traffic...you must be supermen that equates to about 14 m per second...ie three car lengths per second.You would likely travel a car length before you even realise that someone has indicated to change lanes

[Dschubba]

You would likely travel a car length before you even realise that someone has indicated to change lanes

I think you are a bit optimistic...

when have you ever seen a car indicate to change lanes? !!!

[Swoop]

...before you even realise that someone has indicated to change lanes

Kiwi's don't indicate, so "read" the traffic and be prepared.

[skinman]

I tend to split only when traffic slows to about 60 or less & then travel about 20-30 k faster than the cars. Have noticed if I dont keep the speed difference big enough it gives any a' hole who wants to close off the gap time to do it. I definitely work on the assumption that I am invisible. Saying that, since I went to a big bike I get spotted (or heard) coming more often and they make room on the whole. Which is good cause I need quite a bit to get a C50 through.

[flyingcrocodile46]

I have on occasion clipped car mirrors and once been clipped by a lane changing cage as I was passing. I got to thinking about how big the gaps between cars need to be to pass safely.

So I measured the width of my bars, mirrors and levers (just a smidge under 900 wide) and marked it with a couple of paint lines on the fence then stood back to look at it and see how it looked compared to my recollection of the widths of the gaps I regularly scoot through. A bit of an eye opener as I reckon the width of my bars is about the same or more than the space between car mirrors that I often ride between. I often have to flick the top of the bike from one side to the other to weave through between them.

I videoed a trip in to work a couple of years ago on my trust GS1100G Zook. After seeing the merican version of lane splitting posted below, I figured I'd upload my own to see what the KB morality police thought.

Is this typical or am I a loose unit?

[yachtie10]

shit a BMW that indicates
FWIW I think at times your going a bit quicker than i would but some on here would call me a nana (hard to tell how fast you were really going)