Went into the lion's den today. Northern office, M/way patrols.
Spoke with a knowledgeable cop (rides a Beemer, so he must be fairly okay...in fact he was a damned nice young bloke).
It became clear that there is no 'specific' rule regarding lane-splitting, per se.
He did mention some arcane rule about one door-width clearance, but admitted that would probably never fly in court.
However, dealing with lane-splitting comes under the rather more open-ended 'perception' of inconsiderate, careless, and dangerous driving.
Apparently, the troops; no doubt at one or more of their meetings, have formally discussed the issue and see no real reason to persecute bikers who lane-split considerately...the emphasis being on 'considerately'.
The general acceptance among the Auckland motoway cops is, "bikers, lane-splitting considerately...and I got the feeling but couldn't get a difinitive yes or no, that passing on the left was more or less okay..... will be left to travel their merry way. But lane-splitters who exceed certainly no more than 60Kph, will be deemed to be driving, at the very least, carelessly."
He cited one case of clocking a biker, who is now on Shank's Pony, lane-splitting at 100Kph. In his opinion, and I'm sure most of ours, such speed would be lunacy.
We also discussed lane-weaving. No probs providing it's done courteously and cautiously. Interestingly, he asserted the cops had some misgivings about signalling by lane-weavers. It seems there is some belief that signalling each lane-change, especially in traffic moving at below 50Kph, can disorient cagers.
Even at speed there is no particluar rule regarding lane-weaving and so, once again comes under the omnipotent 'Perceived danger' rule.
You may well ask about the 3-second indication rule when lane-weaving.
I explored that, also, by asking what is the case if I, when waiting for an opening, have my indicator on, even for several minutes? I would have well fulfilled the 3-second rule.
He laughed at that and agreed. There's just no perfect legislation.
And so. It seems lane-splitting during crawl-hour traffic will not considered an offence providing one does it with due care and caution.
Lane-weaving was a little less clear, but my impression was, "do it injudiciously, within sight of a cop who is having a bad day, and you may well get pinged." Seems fair enough.
The motorway edges.
Once again this subject has not been covered by legislation, per se. And although I couldn't get a specific answer as to the lawful rectitude of bikers using the two outer surfaces, the cop soundly backed up Frosty's comments about tyre-eating litter.
It appears I owe Frosty yet another apology. Apparently, the road-sweepers clear upwards of nine tonnes per month, of very nasty, tyre-popping items off those parts of the Auckland M/way system.
And, as Frosty also asserted, the bike cops hate using those parts to get through traffic.
However, if you're of a mind to use this parts, it seems the same rules apply. If you're doing less than 50/60Kph, the chances are you'll be allowed to pass by without lawful attention.
Covering all of the above, as regards handing out tickets, he asserted, "We're not stupid. Providing the traffic flows and nobody is put in needless danger, we prefer to let matters slide. Furthermore, we're realists. We know that getting a conviction against some biker doing 50Kph, lane-splitting/weaving/using the side areas, is a time-waste because there is no specific rule. Therefore we would have to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that a biker was riding in one of the three unacceptable categories mentioned."
You'll appreciate the cops have a very tight budget, thus chasing moon-beam charges....charges based entirely upon a perception of a minor misdemeanour....and defended in court, is deemed poor use of budget.
Clear-cut infringements are nearly always prosecuted. But those in the 'subjective', low-calbre infringement area are usually dropped, and in fact, unusually issued. His words, not mine.
I trust this adds a degree of clarity to the matter.
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Originally Posted by Fatt Max
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