Lane splitting should be legal

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Funny. I had a conversation this morning with my wife while stuck in traffic about why lanesplitting should be legal and why I think it's not legal and wont be anytime soon as long as people have the attitude that they currently do in traffic.

People are selfish. They treat the lines of traffic like they treat lines at McDonald's or at Walmart. They think it's unfair if someone gets to go ahead of them. The thing that prompted our conversation this morning was a prime example of this. This guy was merging with traffic on the highway. There was a big gap that he would easily fit into. He turned on his left turn signal to merge and the lady after the gap who had been driving the same steady speed for quite a while sped up to keep the guy from merging. I could almost understand not letting him in if she was traveling faster than him and had to slow down to let him merge but she had to actually speed up to prevent him from merging.

A while back I was on my bike in the same area and there was an accident miles up the highway. I tried to play by the rules for a few minutes but it was near 100 degrees outside. I hit the shoulder and started skipping around traffic when my exit was in sight. Some guy actually got out of one of the cars and tried to block me. He threw something at me and hit my bike. I'm not sure what it was. It looked like a bottle. I stopped and the guy starts yelling at me about how it's not fair. I decided to bait him a bit. I told him it's not fair that he gets to sit in an air conditioned car while I'm sweating my ass off in 100 degree heat. He said no one is preventing me from getting a car and having air conditioning. Expecting that would be his response I already had a retort ready. I told him that no one was preventing him from getting a motorcycle and skipping traffic. He shut up and got back in his car. I drove ahead and stopped to check on my bike to see if there was any damage and made a call to a friend I was meeting to tell him I was going to be late. I was there maybe 5 minutes when the car with the douchetard that thought it was so unfair for me to be skipping traffic passed by driving down the shoulder skipping traffic.

People are selfish. If they think you're getting away with something that they're not they'll do whatever they can to prevent it. Another example of people's selfishness is morons not paying attention and texting while controlling a massive chunk of metal. They would freak out if I shot by them while speeding on my tiny little bike that I'm in full control of but being inattentive while they endanger everyone around them is A-OK.
 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNGD9AAIfFU[/youtube]

The fact that there are places in America that allow you to ride without a helmet but stop you from filtering is scary.
 
I saw that video the other day, it is crazy. Like they say, filtering is safe, in a way. Where as riding without a helmet is not. But I suppose that is kinda natural selection at work
 
The no filtering laws aren't going to change until we can convince the general public that we're not going to crash into their cars and then just ride away. That's not going to happen because so many of the highly visible riders, be it in the news or on tv shows or whatever, don't ride responsibly. They speed, swerve through traffic, get in chases, run from the police, etc. The general public sees a sportbike and immediately thinks 'wannabe racer who only cares about himself.' Once that changes we'll have a chance. But until then...it ain't gonna happen. We also have a LOT of people who live in rural areas, where there is no real traffic congestion and thus no real need for filtering to take place. Those people aren't going to know much about it, and therefore aren't going to support it.

Helmet laws are a completely different animal. Most of us who don't like them simply don't like the idea of a nanny state telling us what to do. It's my life, if I want to put it in danger I will. It's none of Washington's business if I don't want to wear a helmet.
 
Trinith said:
The no filtering laws aren't going to change until we can convince the general public that we're not going to crash into their cars and then just ride away. That's not going to happen because so many of the highly visible riders, be it in the news or on tv shows or whatever, don't ride responsibly. They speed, swerve through traffic, get in chases, run from the police, etc. The general public sees a sportbike and immediately thinks 'wannabe racer who only cares about himself.' Once that changes we'll have a chance. But until then...it ain't gonna happen. We also have a LOT of people who live in rural areas, where there is no real traffic congestion and thus no real need for filtering to take place. Those people aren't going to know much about it, and therefore aren't going to support it.

Helmet laws are a completely different animal. Most of us who don't like them simply don't like the idea of a nanny state telling us what to do. It's my life, if I want to put it in danger I will. It's none of Washington's business if I don't want to wear a helmet.
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It's funny that the general public sees motorcycle riders as wreckless and a menace when I see maybe 1 motorcycle accident every six months on my commute to and from work. I see at least 1, usually 2 or 3 every day on that same commute. Sounds like the real menace are the car drivers eating breakfast, sending pointless texts, putting on makeup, shaving, etc. BTW, can't we hit their cars and just drive away now. I do that shit every day, don't you?! Like I said before people are selfish. They're always watching to make sure everyone else is doing what they're supposed to but if they do something wreckless or stupid they expect to get a free pass.
 
kryten said:
Funny. I had a conversation this morning with my wife while stuck in traffic about why lanesplitting should be legal and why I think it's not legal and wont be anytime soon as long as people have the attitude that they currently do in traffic.

People are selfish. They treat the lines of traffic like they treat lines at McDonald's or at Walmart. They think it's unfair if someone gets to go ahead of them. The thing that prompted our conversation this morning was a prime example of this. This guy was merging with traffic on the highway. There was a big gap that he would easily fit into. He turned on his left turn signal to merge and the lady after the gap who had been driving the same steady speed for quite a while sped up to keep the guy from merging. I could almost understand not letting him in if she was traveling faster than him and had to slow down to let him merge but she had to actually speed up to prevent him from merging.
<snip snip>
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my second motovlog was about this very topic.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6EApIvItqw[/youtube]
 
Youve hit the nail on the head Kryten. Jealousy. Its an evil part of humanity.

Trinith, as long as suicide remains a crime (I just checked, it still is in the US) then you cant use the argument "It's my life, if I want to put it in danger I will". You need to make up some other excuse. Being anti-establishment might sound cool, but its not always in the best interests of anyone.
 
Putting ones life in danger and actively trying to end it aren't the same. I damn sure don't want my government telling me I can't do something because they think it's dangerous. That opens the door to way too many things being flagged as illegal. Again, it's none of their business if I don't want to wear a helmet to ride a block down the street to a gas station. If people want to run the risk of removing themselves from the gene pool then I say great, let them! It'll do nothing more than bring the collective IQ up a little higher if those idiots want to go out and get themselves killed. :)
 
Trinith said:
Putting ones life in danger and actively trying to end it aren't the same. I damn sure don't want my government telling me I can't do something because they think it's dangerous. That opens the door to way too many things being flagged as illegal. Again, it's none of their business if I don't want to wear a helmet to ride a block down the street to a gas station. If people want to run the risk of removing themselves from the gene pool then I say great, let them! It'll do nothing more than bring the collective IQ up a little higher if those idiots want to go out and get themselves killed. :)
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See, we can't afford such logic here (or in the UK for that matter).

The reason this is, is because if someone crashes and has to go to the hospital... guess who pays for everything? The government. Us, in other words.

That's right. Because healthcare is free here, everyone pays for it. If you allow people to speed all the time, ride without helmets, etc... you agree with the rise of the amount of taxpayer money spent in healthcare. It's down to simple maths. The more the government tries to limit the ways with which we can endanger ourselves, the less it (and the population, which pays for it) will have to invest in saving the careless and the reckless.

Now, I'm not saying filtrage should be illegal - very far from that, as I believe it is safer than not filtrage. BUT I understand the dynamics linked with not allowing people to risk getting hurt.

Obviously this doesn't apply to the US where (depending on the state) the government and insurance companies will happily let the poor live very uncomfortable lives after an accident because they couldn't afford better healthcare.

Oh and by the way, I agree with the gene pool thing. For example, I think chain-smokers who get lung cancer shouldn't get free healthcare. You make your bed, you sleep in it. But then if we decided to apply this, where do you set the line? Complicated subject this.
 
Trinith said:
Putting ones life in danger and actively trying to end it aren't the same. I damn sure don't want my government telling me I can't do something because they think it's dangerous. That opens the door to way too many things being flagged as illegal. Again, it's none of their business if I don't want to wear a helmet to ride a block down the street to a gas station. If people want to run the risk of removing themselves from the gene pool then I say great, let them! It'll do nothing more than bring the collective IQ up a little higher if those idiots want to go out and get themselves killed. :)
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You raise a very good point which I fully agree with.

However, it's unlikely to happen due to the consequences.
For instance, if there's no helmet law and you die because you crashed your bike and hit your head then SOMEONE will pick it up and blame someone else for it.
Maybe a family member for example. They'll blame everyone but you for your death. They'll blame all kinds of people, like the guys in charge for not ensuring that there is a helmet law in place to protect your head. They might even sue these people. All of a sudden, it's in their best interests to insure no one goes without a helmet again. Thus, helmet law.

I have no idea what it's like in America, but that's how I could see it going over here.
We have health and safety everywhere. So many rules and regulations - and it's not there to protect the person in danger, it's to stop the higher up being sued and blamed for the incompetence of the people below them and allowing them to do something ridiculous.

Like I said at the start though - I think it's crazy and if people want to do something stupid that gets them killed then let them.
 
Im not sure 100% about the USA and its traffic laws (seems to differ a lot from state to state and that's dam confusing to me) but one of the reason why filtering works in the UK and is accepted buy car drivers (a sort of gentlemans agreement). Yes I said that right the majority of car drives will actively move over or leave enough room for bikers to filter past (not all, you do get the odd one that acts like an arse but that is rare).

In the UK you may only pass on the out side of traffic (cars and bikes), you are not allowed to undertake (inside of traffic/not 100% true but see below why not a good idea) so car drivers know where you are going to filter.

So a three lane motorway its all backed up most bikers will pass/filter on the outside of lane 2 between lane 2 and 3. Never on the inside of 1 and never on the outside of 3. Most car drivers know this and actively keep that area clean and double check when changing lanes.

Saying all that you do still have to be very very very careful. Also even though its not breaking the law as such you can still be done for dangerous riding if you filter at an unacceptable speed.

Is filtering good, yes for both car and bikers. It frees up space on the road if you as a biker move on out of the congested area helping to keep the traffic flowing. The biker also gets to their destination quicker and again is off the road and not wasting fuel.

Is it dangerous. Well yes it is, don't think it isn't. But those dangers can be migrated by not traveling more than 10-15mph faster that the traffic you are filtering past. Do not filter if the main body of traffic is moving at a pace (if traffic is at 20mph even tho road is posted at 40mph there is no real reason to filter). Even though you have the right to filter it doesn't give you the right of way, do not undertake (not strictly illegal in some circumstances but can be dangerous as traffic may be turning across your path and not expecting an undertake).

But would it all work over the pond?
Not with under taking allowed in all lanes as it is in most states I have been.
Also a lot of riders will die quickly before the gentlemans agreement starts to exist between car and bikers and that probably why it may never be introduced and there will be far too many bikers riding GTA style between the traffic to begin with adding to a causality rate.

Now that's not bashing riders in the USA at all, its just we are all dumb apes and we all copy one another, as bikers in the UK have grown up we see how other bikers ride and follow by example even before we had a bike. Introducing a new way to ride with no examples or guidance will inevitably results in many mishaps.

Will it ever be introduced, I doubt it. More likely to outlaw bikes knowing most governments!
 
Agree with thunderous here, mainly because of a couple of points to which I have observed living in both places now.

- North Americans see lane splitting as zooming in and out of FAST/ NORMAL moving traffic, not as we do in the UK where it is generally traffic. This alone warps their perception of filtering because it is all they know and people are not exposed to it.

- From my experience, over here in Ontario undertaking is not illegal and people do not grasp the concept of having a 'fast' lane and a slow one when there are more than 1, so people would fly by an undertake, which is dumb.

- I will maintain my stance saying that generally the quality of driving / riding over here in North America is lacking compared to the UK for the average road user.

- I really want them to make filtering OK, but with the restriction of only in slow moving traffic or traffic jams - and be strict about it.
 
JollyRoger said:
- I will maintain my stance saying that generally the quality of driving / riding over here in North America is lacking compared to the UK for the average road user.
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Wow, how is anyone still alive? :lol:
 
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