Lane Splitting. A Wimp's Guide.

[James Deuce]

Does this mean the rest of you couldn't give a sh*t what others think or is it an automatic, 'shut the rest of the World out' kind of biking experience?

That's a really important point Deb, and one that doesn't help the non-motorcycling populace's opinion of us one bit. I try to be considerate when I do lane split, and I've never reacted negatively to a biker lane splitting, but can be really scary to have a loud twin blat past inches from your window at a large speed differential.

[MikeL]

on the forum, ad nauseum.

A Latin rhyme - neat.

Pity the correct form is nauseAM.

(Are we quits, now??)

BTW re lanesplitting. It becomes addictive, then just a habit. And sometimes you need to stop and ask yourself "Why am I in a hurry - to get to work???"
Before, when I saw a biker sitting behind a long queue of cars I couldn't help thinking "wimp!" Now more often than not that rider is me.
I hope this isn't a portent of something sinister, like old age or becoming sensible.
But I still lanesplit on the way home...

[jrandom]

Pity the correct form is nauseAM.

Oh, bugger. One of you *had* to get me on something, sooner or later...

Now more often than not that rider is me.
I hope this isn't a portent of something sinister, like old age...

Sounds like that to me. Time for a Goldwing...

[Devil]

Time for a Goldwing...

For the stop start traffic? hehe. Fun!

[vifferman]

I used to lanesplit a lot, but almost never on the motorway, except under extreme provocation.

Now, I think first, "Do I actually need to save any time? How much time will it save? Do I really need to do it?"
Apart from on Onewa Road - where there are no lanes marked, so the "failure to stay in the marked lane" doesn't apply - I don't bother. The exception to this was when I was riding the Volty last week, and the traffic was barely moving from Takapuna. I couldn't be sure if I could go in the bus lane, so I just slalomed around the cars till I got to where the traffic was moving, then stayed in the traffic from there on. It saved me at least 15 minutes, I guess, so I was barely late for work.

In five years of commuting in D'Auckland's traffic, I have never experienced people moving to stop me taking advantage of the bike's manouverability and smaller size, but they often move over to let me through. I try not to do anything to piss people off, although I knocked lots of mirrors when I used to filter/lanesplit all the time, and twice my pillion footpeg bracket scraped cars I was squeezing past.

[riffer]

In five years of commuting in D'Auckland's traffic, I have never experienced people moving to stop me taking advantage of the bike's manouverability and smaller size, but they often move over to let me through.

Really? Wow! I experience BOTH every day...

[Kendog]

How many times has this been covered and people still don't don't know what's legal or not?

That is very constructive
As Celtic Sea lily said, new members, such as myself, may not have seen or know about previous posts on the lane splitting topic.

So, I did the nice thing and searched:
There are 98 threads resulting from Lane Splitting as the search option.

Of these 98 the following two have details about the legality:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...Lane+Splitting

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...Lane+Splitting

No definite answer to my question, "Is lane splitting legal?" but some good food for thought.

[James Deuce]

No definite answer to my question, "Is lane splitting legal?" but some good food for thought.

That was my impression too, hence the "dubious" call. I felt the general tone of the comments was, "It's up to the Cop who busts you". I struggle to stay to the left of the lane marking, because people don't keep to the left of the lane.

[erik]

In five years of commuting in D'Auckland's traffic, I have never experienced people moving to stop me taking advantage of the bike's manouverability and smaller size, but they often move over to let me through.

In the last 9 months or so of riding to uni from west auckland, I've only ever had 1 person try to block me off and stop me from splitting past. That was on Gt. North road on the day when they closed the NW motorway and the traffic turned to chaos, so I'm guessing the guy was probably pissed off at being stuck in traffic so long. Luckily there was enough room on the other side of his car (between his car and the gutter) to get past before he realised what I was doing

I think the best bit of advice in that consine thing is to stick within your comfort zone.

[AMPS]

In the last 9 months or so of riding to uni from west auckland, I've only ever had 1 person try to block me off and stop me from splitting past. That was on Gt. North road on the day when they closed the NW motorway and the traffic turned to chaos, so I'm guessing the guy was probably pissed off at being stuck in traffic so long. Luckily there was enough room on the other side of his car (between his car and the gutter) to get past before he realised what I was doing

I think the best bit of advice in that consine thing is to stick within your comfort zone.

Yeah, it's like racing. You feint to the left, when they move to block you make a quick reverse to the right and you're through.
(Disclaimer. Nothing in this post is intended as encouragment to ride like me)
Lou

[Coldkiwi]

Yeah bugger commuting on the bike. Save it for fun.

Eh what??? How can zipping past a bunch of lemmings stuck in the same traffic that they were stuck in the same time yesterday (the same as the week before) listening to the same CD or Radio station play the same damn middle of the road slop they played before not be classed as fun?? (or at least satisfying).
Commuting on the bike IS fun! I'm like Jrandom - I go nuts if I can't lane split. What really frustrates me about seeing the HP is that I have to stop.. even if it's only for a minute, I spend 55 seconds looking in my mirrors and craning my neck to see if they're suitably out of sight so i can go on my merry way.

AS for the 'why' of rushing to work.. well, I like my job.. and I'm normally 15 minutes late! And besides - a good healthy lane split really wakes you up and helps my brain to get started. ( I may be tired when I leave home but I'm never tired when I get to work)

[erik]

CK, I agree with you. I enjoy commuting and now that I don't have uni (and the bike hasn't got a warrant) I miss it.
I dunno if I enjoy it more or less than riding on the open road, I think they're just different.

[ev0lution]

good points!!!

now my 2c
i always look for a "spot" to go to incase something comes from other direction/goes wrong.

And as for the 'legality' of lane splitting, you can only split lanes (travelling in same direction) when they are stopped i.e, gridlock on the motorway (up the middle not along the sides), or through lines at lights (again up the middle) otherwise if you get seen by the police you'll get napped!

Now for the Police View....

As a member of Aucklands (dubious) Motorway Patrol, here's a few points i've found in common with the other cops i work with.. bearing in mind there is only 1 cop on my section not currently riding a personal bike...

Lane splitting is a dangerous sport... but effective and we all know how much quicker it gets us from a to b!!!

The points raised earlier in the forum are brilliant and obviously some people in here have their heads screwed on and want to get home each day.

In legal terms, you are only commiting an offence if you pass on the LEFT of another vehicle... IE being in the same lane.You are within your rights to overtake on the right... IE between the vehicle and the dotted white lines.. now we all know this isn't always the safe and practical way of doing these things.

The boys at work basically work on the principal of you are doing it at your OWN risk.. if you start putting other people or property at risk then we'll have ya. We arent worried if the other traffic is moving slowly, so long as the lane splitting is done safely and reasonably... there are some out there ruining it for the rest of us. Common Sense will prevail!!!!

I see bikes all the time when im working lane splitting, see my patrol car and jump back into the traffic. All well and good but like i said, there are a lot of cops riding bikes for business and pleasure, especially those working the motorway system. We wont waste ours and your time stopping ya if its done within reason... 70 - 80k's through stationary traffic is not reasonable!!!!

Hope this clears up the legal and also 'informal' side of things in relation to the constantly asked questions about lane splitting.

While im here.... You CANNOT ride your bike in the MOTORWAY bus lanes... unfortunately!!! Transit NZ has said no to this because of the safety issues IE crossing over on/off ramps, the surface of the bus lanes has a lot of gravell and other shiite on it and 100km/h is too dangerous for bikes in the bus lane... and you cannot make individual speed limits for different lanes.

You can however use the bus lanes in Auckland City (urban areas only) unless designated 'Buses Only'

If you have any other questions, just ask!!!

[Sniper]

Good thread, but why dredge up a year old thread mate???????

[Macktheknife]

Good thread, but why dredge up a year old thread mate???????

Dont you listen to him Evo, you dredge up whatever you want mate! Besides, you could add new and fresh information like this often, possibly saving some of us a ticket some day. :spudflip: