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Thread: Lane splitting/filtering: the legal and commonsense answers

  1. #31
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    1st April 2006 - 14:32
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    Ok here goes my 2 cents worth.

    Lane splitting, or whitelining as I learnt to call it in the UK.

    I worked as a despatch rider in the UK for 2 years doing inter city trips. The motorways were ok and one could keep a reasonable speed up. When a jam occurred then whilst not strictly legal the police forces turned a bling eye to bikers filtering their way throught the traffic.

    Hit a big city like London 10+ million people where the average speed of a car is 16kph and a motorbike is 24kkph then filtering becomes an art. Watch the riders in London filtering is mind blowing. No wonder they have a "life expectancy" of 1 year from when they start despatch work.

    Back to the point.

    Since comming home to NZ and getting back on a bike here I am amazed at how couteous most drivers are when a bike comes up behind. Trucks also. The majority seem to move a little away from the white line so as to give more room. I always try and acknowledge those who have obviously done this.

    What I find frustrating is that a lot of the bikers I see on the Auckland motorway seem to be very hesitant when filtering. From my experiences in the UK where traffic density is much greater, I found this to be a recipe for an accident or incident. The ins and outs of the legal side here in NZ I do not know but what I do see is a lot of bikers waiting for an accident.

    Sorry if this upsets anyone but I have 35 years of biking behind me. 250,000 miles of despatch work in 2 years in UK. Numerable accidents myself as I'm not perfect. I'm just saying it as I see it.

    I learnt over all these years that the greatest asset a bike has is its acceleration. You can get out of trouble faster with a bike than a car but if you are hesitant then that advantage goes.

    Enough preaching.

    Nice to see a healthy dicussion group going here andf I will lurk for a while. I may even jump in with a comment or question or two.

    Dai

  2. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dai
    What I find frustrating is that a lot of the bikers I see on the Auckland motorway seem to be very hesitant when filtering. From my experiences in the UK where traffic density is much greater, I found this to be a recipe for an accident or incident. The ins and outs of the legal side here in NZ I do not know but what I do see is a lot of bikers waiting for an accident.
    So, can you give us some pointers from what your experiences in the UK?
    I would be interested to know what caused most splitting accidents and the techniques used to stop them occuring.
    Also more precicely how we are waiting for an accident?
    Motorbike only search
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  3. #33
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    In my not so humble opinion, XP@ - cover the brakes, expect to be cut up, and always leave an escape route. And don't have an impromptu go with an SV650 in 3-lane rush hour traffic
    "You, Madboy, are the Uncooked Pork Sausage of Sausage Beasts. With extra herbs."
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  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by madboy
    In my not so humble opinion, XP@ - cover the brakes, expect to be cut up, and always leave an escape route. And don't have an impromptu go with an SV650 in 3-lane rush hour traffic
    Totally, about the braking as I start to split i always cover brake and clutch with 4 fingers, foot covering rear brake and posture ready for a max effort stop.
    Motorbike only search
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  5. #35
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    Hmm, I get ready to swing the bike to either side, cause the best advantage the bike has is its ability to fit through small gaps, so if someone moves over on you, you just move with them sharing a lane, I think one of the worst things you can do is an emergency braking manoeuvre. Should be saved for emergencies only. Firstly if you go hard on the brakes, you lose any ability to change direction. Secondly, you're likely to get someone ramming you up the arse. Just go with the flow, by all means brake if you're blocked off, but my preferred method is to swing the bike into gaps.

  6. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dai
    Ok here goes my 2 cents worth.

    What I find frustrating is that a lot of the bikers I see on the Auckland motorway seem to be very hesitant when filtering. From my experiences in the UK where traffic density is much greater, I found this to be a recipe for an accident or incident. The ins and outs of the legal side here in NZ I do not know but what I do see is a lot of bikers waiting for an accident.


    Dai
    That's because most Kiwi riders are paranoid about getting done for careless or reckless riding because the legislators can't tidy up there act and tell us in plain English what we can and can't do.

    Filtering would be safer if we could concentrate on filtering and not looking madly about for any bike hating cop, lurking on overbridges to up their ticket quotas.

    We are long overdue on the legislators recognising that motorbikes are saving the environment and making it easier for all motorists to get to work quicker.
    There would be a lot more motorcyclists commuting if the shoulders were dedicated to them at certain speed limits etc.

  7. #37
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    [QUOTE=beyond]That's because most Kiwi riders are paranoid about getting done for careless or reckless riding because the legislators can't tidy up there act and tell us in plain English what we can and can't do. QUOTE]

    I went down the NW after work this arvo and passed a cop in the middle lane while underpassing cars in the right lane. I didnt notice he was there until it was too late and thought bugger it - he would have spotted me anyway so just carried on. However he didnt even bat an eyelid and so I just carried on.

    I think your point about the difficulty in understanding the filtering law seems to extend to those who are meant to enforce it and hence inconsistency in its application. Crazy. Leaves it wide open for interpretation and abuse perhaps...

  8. #38
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    Financially driven

    A lot of factors, but the two main ones are financially driven.

    Obviously any police(wo)man wanting to keep their quota up will take the easy option of ticketing the motorbike for anything they feel like.

    But can you imagine if half the cagers in auckland decided to come to work on a 250 for a week. All the petrol stations would make about 25% of the income they normally make. They would have to rape our wallets even harder to make some money.

    And when you consider the government is making about 70cents for every litre of petrol sold, how would they make up the shortfall in their income.
    They will have to rape our wallets even harder through taxation of income to make up for the lack of gas guzzling cages on the road.

    No government department will ever introduce any legislation to make it cheaper or safer to travel, whether by rail, bus, car or bike. Because all they will ever do is lose money. Your money. All they will do is introduce more laws to ticket you with, claiming it is in the interest of motoring safety and/or reducing congestion.

  9. #39
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    I lane split if the cars are banking up on the NW. If she's grinding on stop start I'll ride in line w the cars till they grind stopped again then lane split till the cars are up & running again. quite mild mannered am i... seen a red Duc carving up regular. even when the cars are going OK. both of us still seem to be shiny side up, so each to their own!
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  10. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by craigs288
    A lot of factors, but the two main ones are financially driven.

    Obviously any police(wo)man wanting to keep their quota up will take the easy option of ticketing the motorbike for anything they feel like.

    But can you imagine if half the cagers in auckland decided to come to work on a 250 for a week. All the petrol stations would make about 25% of the income they normally make. They would have to rape our wallets even harder to make some money.

    And when you consider the government is making about 70cents for every litre of petrol sold, how would they make up the shortfall in their income.
    They will have to rape our wallets even harder through taxation of income to make up for the lack of gas guzzling cages on the road.

    No government department will ever introduce any legislation to make it cheaper or safer to travel, whether by rail, bus, car or bike. Because all they will ever do is lose money. Your money. All they will do is introduce more laws to ticket you with, claiming it is in the interest of motoring safety and/or reducing congestion.
    You need some bling for that!
    TOP QUOTE: “The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.”

  11. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by Swoop
    You need some bling for that!
    Hell Yeah!!


  12. #42
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    Talking

    Quote Originally Posted by ManDownUnder
    Na mate - the simplest and safest, and most legal is to put the visor UP - get a wet face but see clearly all the way to where you're going.

    Normal splitting guidelines apply... but add in the consideration the road is wet (aka greasy) and most motorists don't know how to adjust their driving for wet conditions.
    But here's the thing I want to know (novice alert....sorry for the dumb question and the fact that it's kinda off the thread.....), how the heck do you ride in the cold AND wet when you wear glasses? Can't have the visor up cos of the rain, can't have it down cos of the fogging Have tried cat cr@p and either I'm not using it right, or it really is as good as its name! LOL

    Had to stay in the traffic today cos of the rain - really couldn't see where I was going too well so I didn't dare scoot along inbetween the lanes. Really frustrating!!

  13. #43
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    Put your visor part way up, high enough that you just look under it. it will act like a peak and keep the rain off your glasses. You can fine tune this by tilting your head back or forward a bit.
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  14. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ixion
    Put your visor part way up, high enough that you just look under it. it will act like a peak and keep the rain off your glasses. You can fine tune this by tilting your head back or forward a bit.
    On my helemt if you get it right you get no wind in you face at all, funny aeros to blame I reckon but play around and you can find a point where most helmets do this

  15. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by judecatmad
    But here's the thing I want to know (novice alert....sorry for the dumb question and the fact that it's kinda off the thread.....), how the heck do you ride in the cold AND wet when you wear glasses?
    I don't know... but I'm sure others here will be able to help
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