[Celerity]

This is a very dangerous maneuver, and I would not lane-split.

The masses of motorists are simply not smart enough, talented enough, focused enough or even awake enough to be around motorcycles. This is something I remember everytime I mount up - Stay AWAY FROM THOSE CARS.

Lane Splitting is a mind-bending risk that isn’t worth it. If you’re in traffic on a motorcycle, you chose the wrong route.

[driftdiver]

“The masses of motorists are simply not smart enough, talented enough, focused enough or even awake enough to be around motorcycles”

I’d say the vast majority of motorcyclists are not smart enough to do this safely

[STONEWALLS]

“...The masses of motorists are simply not smart enough, talented enough, focused enough or even awake enough to be around motorcycles...”

....not to mention young enough...a Harley friend of mine just wrecked...I asked him “what happened”....he said “I’m 60 and I just don’t have the reflexes I had when I started riding at 19”

[Paine in the Neck]

Lane splitting will get you killed.

Years ago I was riding into Boston. Got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic just at the entrance to the old South Station tunnel. Guy on a rice burner flies by ‘tween lanes. Runs smack into the rear of a cab changing lanes and gets launched over 5-6 cars. Bike — wrecked; rider — wrecked.

[usurper]

Lane Splitting is a mind-bending risk that isn’t worth it.

I could not agree more, you have no room to maneuver or time to do so. Everything from people opening their car doors, pedestrians jaywalking or last moment lane changes would all be catastrophic.

[absolootezer0]

This is a very dangerous maneuver, and I would not lane-split.

biggest advantage of lane splitting isn't in fast moving traffic, but at near or complete standstill. especially at traffic lights, as there are few cars on the road that will accelerate from a red light as quickly as a motorcycle can. it makes lots of sense to get them to the front and out of the way so they aren't taking up space.
i'll completely agree that doing 100mph down the highway, splitting lanes of traffic that are going 75mph is moronic, but doing 10-15mph when everyone else is going 0-5 is fine.

[fishtank]

I like your screen name!

[piytar]

I ride, and I agree with you 100%. Even a 15mph wreck — say someone is lane splitting at that speed and a car in front of them edges over to change lanes or a driver sticks their arm out their window — can do REAL damage to both the rider and the car (and possibly the car driver).

I remember in CA, riders would split lanes at about 40 mph. When you are sitting stuck in traffic and a bike blows past you at that speed, it’s quite startling! Also, in the summer heat, people would stick their arms out their windows or even open their doors (happened all the time on LA freeways that got completely stuck for a while).

[clamper1797]

Sure a lot of people who don't know what their talking about on this thread. Calif is the ONLY state that lane splitting is legal. So any reference to lane splitting in Boston or Dallas or any place where it is illegal is bogus. The drivers there are not expecting lane splitters so they are not alert to them. Second, Calif highway patrol studies show it is MUCH safer for a biker to split lanes than to sit in traffic and risk a rear end collision ... just ask the now dead and injured bikers from the Cave Creek Az incident a couple of weeks age. Third, as in much of Calif, it gets REAL hot in the Phoenix area. The side cases of a Harley get so hot that they burn the legs through the pants. Bikes are NOT made to sit in traffic. I've been splitting lanes in Calif for over 40 years and NEVER had a major incident. I ride my Harley 70 miles EACH way to and from work. Most of it splitting lanes. I ride with my CHP nephew during his off work time ... splitting lanes when necessary. I've seen and had FAR more incidents in a car than on the bike and I've been riding a LONG time.

Bikers DON'T have to split lanes so if you are a biker and don't like doing it ... don't.

Most of the squawking comes from cage (car) drivers that are just jealous that they have to sit in traffic while the bikers zip by. Oh and by the way ... there would be no traffic if the cage drivers would pick the "right" route

[HamiltonJay]

Rode for years, and I’ve seen relatively safe lane splitting, and absolutely idiotic lane splitting.

If traffic is at a standstill, splitting the lanes at a cautious and reasonable speed is relatively safe... If you decide to split between two cars who are both doing 60 MPH because you are doing 85, this is just tempting death.

I have split lanes, but only when traffic was at virtual standstill, and then at a very cautious pace, because you never know when a fool in a cage will cut you off even in these situations.

Drivers just don’t look or expect a bike in the middle, so its not something I have or would do in any other situation. I’ve seen it done, and I’ve also seen the same guy that whizzed between me and a semi who were going in the 60s, a pile of pudding not more than 5 miles further up the road.

[SUSSA]

This is a very dangerous maneuver, and I would not lane-split.
##

Spot on.

[TopQuark]

Thank you for bringing some sense to this discussion. With all the high-level view like “individual freedoms,” the reality is quite simple: most drivers in this country are inexperienced to be around motorcyclists as is. I always thought that life on a motorcycle is dangerous enough without lane-splitting.

[gogeo]

The masses of motorists are simply not smart enough, talented enough, focused enough or even awake enough to be around motorcycles. This is something I remember everytime I mount up - Stay AWAY FROM THOSE CARS...

Exactly.