[SmithL]

[pnh102]

3 deaths in one year? Aren’t there bigger problems?

[clamper1797]

Studies by the CHP have shown that splitting lanes is safer than sitting in traffic

[RonF]

In Illinois a motorcycle can only split a lane with another motorcycle. It cannot ride alongside of any other kind of vehicle, nor may it pass any other kind of vehicle in the same lane. I’m quite surprised that it’s apparently legal elsewhere.

[SkiKnee]

Legal or not, “lane splitting” on a motorcycle is utterly stupid IMHO. You have essentially reduced your margin of safety to zero.
That being said, I would oppose any laws against this dumb maneuver. Let these people have their freedom to risk their lives in any way they wish, just don’t expect me to pay the financial costs of their actions. But that’s just the libertarian in me coming out.

[Ditto]

In low speed bumper to bumper traffic as that photo suggests, I'd say it's much safer for the biker to slide in between a couple of cars just as a protective strategy as opposed to taking a rear ender that could be fatal to him. Rear enders nearly always happen at lights or in jams when someone behind is not paying attention.

At highway speeds, I'd say getting between two cars is foolish at best. If someone swerves, you have no escape route.

[Little Pig]

In other words, in all cases, the rider was doing something unwise, or otherwise not being careful (riding too fast, splitting in an area where lanes are narrow, etc). And the dangers, apart from not riding carefully, are primarily aggressive car drivers (opening doors or deliberately riding the line to block lane splitters). If done properly (traffic below 35mph, wide lanes) and the rider exercises due care, lane splitting is no more dangerous than riding anywhere else. The subtext on this reads more like a cage-driver being jealous of the lane-splitting bikers, and trying to turn the public against the practice by highlighting accidents that could have happened in any situation, but happened to occur in conjunction with lane-splitting (like going after video games because some disaffected teen who offed a bunch of people also happened to play games).

[Jagman]

These guys are mere amateurs, as anyone who has driven through Paris at rush-hour can attest. Maybe the problem is there aren’t enough burning cars to light your way! ;-)

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Camilli asks that drivers see motorcycles not as a dangerous nuisance, but as a green, fuel-efficient alternative to cars.

If they were actually interested in driving a "a green, fuel-efficient alternative to cars" they'd consider driving a much safer trike vehicle.
But then...they couldn't engage in their beloved lane-splitting. So, to me, it seems the green thing is a fallacious argument.

[Deaf Smith]

If it hurts when you do that, don’t do that.

[JSDude1]

riding alongside other vehicles, between lanes..

Are they insane?

=Disaster b.c. when I am in a lane on the interstate or state HWY I do not expect for another vehicle to come up beside me (In my own lane!). THIS is dangerous: To all you motorcycle riders: Is your life really worth 5 extra minutes..!

[HerrBlucher]

I hate splitting lanes, but when you are stuck in a traffic jam, especially in the heat, and you see that wide open zone between cars, its hard to resist.

[mbynack]

I lived in California about 18 years ago and I was really surprised that this was legal. We would be riding along at 20 mph in a freeway traffic jam and suddenly a biker would whiz by between rows of traffic, only inches from the car. I saw one biker get really angry because a woman hadn’t left enough room for him to squeeze between her and the car in the other lane and he started beating on her trunk lid.