Bone Headed Move

[MrHondamatic]

A couple days ago, I was riding west on a non-divided 4 lane street. I came to a stop light at a divided 4 lane highway. At that light, the west bound left lane is a left turn only, the right lane is a left turn, straight ahead, as well as a right turn. Originally the right lane was straight ahead or right turn only, but due to high traffic at times, it has been changed to include the left turn as well. And in spite of the fact it has now been this way for well over a year, maybe two, some folks turning left out of the left lane will swing into the right lane of the highway as they go through the intersection, into the path of left turning right lane vehicles.

 

So there I was, approaching the stop light, with nobody around, planning to turn left, and I stopped in the right lane. At the time I thought to myself, "I really should have stopped in the left lane, just in case another left turning vehicle goes wide." By that time other vehicles had pulled up and stopped. And sure enough, the young gal in moms mini van swings wide as we go through, making our left turn. I backed off, laid on the horn, and gave her room. Had I been a little quicker and been next to her as we turned, she would have pushed me to the shoulder. Luckily I had let her go ahead just a tad, and had room to let her do her thing.

 

I quickly sped up and went past her on the left, and she was mouthing, "I'm sorry." So at least she knows what she did. But what really ticked me off, was my poor choice that put me in that spot to begin with. Had I stopped in the left lane, all would have been fine, but I chose the risky side, and had to deal with a bad decision.

 

Everyday is a learnng day.

[Nice n Easy Rider]

A couple days ago, I was riding west on a non-divided 4 lane street. I came to a stop light at a divided 4 lane highway. At that light, the west bound left lane is a left turn only, the right lane is a left turn, straight ahead, as well as a right turn. Originally the right lane was straight ahead or right turn only, but due to high traffic at times, it has been changed to include the left turn as well. And in spite of the fact it has now been this way for well over a year, maybe two, some folks turning left out of the left lane will swing into the right lane of the highway as they go through the intersection, into the path of left turning right lane vehicles.

 

So there I was, approaching the stop light, with nobody around, planning to turn left, and I stopped in the right lane. At the time I thought to myself, "I really should have stopped in the left lane, just in case another left turning vehicle goes wide." By that time other vehicles had pulled up and stopped. And sure enough, the young gal in moms mini van swings wide as we go through, making our left turn. I backed off, laid on the horn, and gave her room. Had I been a little quicker and been next to her as we turned, she would have pushed me to the shoulder. Luckily I had let her go ahead just a tad, and had room to let her do her thing.

 

I quickly sped up and went past her on the left, and she was mouthing, "I'm sorry." So at least she knows what she did. But what really ticked me off, was my poor choice that put me in that spot to begin with. Had I stopped in the left lane, all would have been fine, but I chose the risky side, and had to deal with a bad decision.

 

Everyday is a learning day.

 

Dave, you aren't alone. I had that exact same experience about 1 1/2 years ago when I started riding again. It was a guy in a van for a landscaping service. Luckily for me there was a bike lane that I was able to use after being forced out of the right lane. He gave me a very apologetic wave after he realized his mistake so at least he acknowledged he was wrong. But I was able to take home the same lesson as you and now make sure I'm in the left lane when there are dual turning lanes. Glad your experience turned out OK as well.

[Kathy R]

Good job recognizing the potential problem and coming out unscathed.

 

75% of a problem is recognizing you have one

[Paul Mihalka]

With stopping in the right lane but expecting the left laner will crowd you, you didn't really make a mistake.

[onmyrt]

Where I'm from, honking would have most likely resulted in being flipped off, if not some other form of road rage.

I'm sorry to say that most drivers are not very apologetic about their driving habits.

That's why it is sooooo important to always have an escape route available.

 

I'm glad that in this case, it worked out for you.

[Lawman]

In that situation it's not the vehicles ahead or beside me that I'm concerned with..It's the guy immediately behind the vehicle that is beside me that worries me..In that instance I will make sure my blinker is on and give an obvious hand signal and if stopped I will attempt to make eye contact with him..I will then make my turn as wide as possible and closely behind the vehicle on my left...

[smiller]

At the time I thought to myself, "I really should have stopped in the left lane, just in case another left turning vehicle goes wide."

And that kind of thinking is why some motorcyclists remain accident-free and others do not. Good job.

[CarrotNC]

At the time I thought to myself, "I really should have stopped in the left lane, just in case another left turning vehicle goes wide."

And that kind of thinking is why some motorcyclists remain accident-free and others do not. Good job.

And posting about it here adds to our collective knowledge, such that when approaching an unfamiliar intersection laid out as you describe, there's a reference point for our hindbrain to identify potential issues earlier. Thanks!

[Quinn]

You're pretty well assured of being in their blind spot during the turn. I'd suggest hanging back even if they've seen and aknowledged you.

 

 

[Huzband]

Sometimes it doesn't matter what you do.

 

This morning on the way to work, I'm in the left lane of a double lane left turn on an arrow. The double lanes are marked with a broken line to the four lane onto which we're turning. The arrow goes green, we proceed, & the stupid twit next to me in the...yep...minivan...starts coming left across the broken line into the space I'm occupying. I sit on the horn, (Stebel Nautilus ), & she quickly redirects her path. Then she has the audacity to blow her little tweet horn at ME!

 

Whatever! I was outta there in a second anyway.

 

Like you said, though. At least yours recognized her mistake, & apologized best she could. When they do that, I give them credit & appreciate it.

[russell_bynum]

At the time I thought to myself, "I really should have stopped in the left lane, just in case another left turning vehicle goes wide."

And that kind of thinking is why some motorcyclists remain accident-free and others do not. Good job.

 

Yep.

 

Way too many people are on autopilot and do bonehead stuff like your friend in the minivan did...they don't even realize they're doing it. It's a little scary. It's great that she recognized what she did and apologized. There's hope for that one.

 

My general tactic at intersections is to go through them as quickly as is safely possible, but that's not always the best choice. There's a whole mess of things that could happen at intersections and very few of them are positive.

 

You done good.

[Tony_K]

At the time I thought to myself, "I really should have stopped in the left lane, just in case another left turning vehicle goes wide."

And that kind of thinking is why some motorcyclists remain accident-free and others do not. Good job.

 

In CA we just go to the front are are gone before the cars even apply foot to pedal.

[smiller]

In CA we just go to the front are are gone before the cars even apply foot to pedal.

We can't do that in Texas... 'for our safety...'

[Nice n Easy Rider]

At the time I thought to myself, "I really should have stopped in the left lane, just in case another left turning vehicle goes wide."

And that kind of thinking is why some motorcyclists remain accident-free and others do not. Good job.

 

Yep.

 

Way too many people are on autopilot and do bonehead stuff like your friend in the minivan did...they don't even realize they're doing it. It's a little scary. It's great that she recognized what she did and apologized. There's hope for that one.

 

My general tactic at intersections is to go through them as quickly as is safely possible, but that's not always the best choice. There's a whole mess of things that could happen at intersections and very few of them are positive.

 

You done good.

 

Hey Everyone,

 

I'm getting credit (undeserved) for Mr. Hondamatic's quote (from his OP) and good thinking. Although I had a similar experience (hence his quote was cut from my subsequent post) I can't claim that I was nearly as attuned to the situation as he. I did learn from my experience, though, and I think I can attest to the fact that Mr. Hondamatic and I both approach these situations in a much improved manner. But give credit to him, not me. I only survived.

[knight88]

Where I'm from, honking would have most likely resulted in being flipped off, if not some other form of road rage.

 

lol, good thing you're not from LA, your road rage is mild.. you probably would have been run over and then shot here!

[thencamebronson]

Where I'm from, honking would have most likely resulted in being flipped off, if not some other form of road rage.

 

lol, good thing you're not from LA, your road rage is mild.. you probably would have been run over and then shot here!

 

I don't ride much in LA, but when I do, my experience has been positive. Particularly when compared to Oklahoma, having lived there along with several other places, I can safely say that the absolute worse drivers I have ever dealt with are in Oklahoma. OKC is the worst, exiting from the far right, no concept on "acceleration" lanes, and turn signals are non existent. Add that to aggressive attitude of most drivers and it is almost unbearable. I won't even get into my attempt to bring lane splitting to the Sooner state. The best drivers are in Germany. Italy, surprisingly is not far behind.

 

YMMV.

[Schupo]

When I worked in patrol and we were supposed to work traffic "workload permitting", I often watched intersections with two left-turn lanes to go after the rocket scientists who blithely drifted into the oustide turn lane during their turn. (I felt this had more effect on traffic safety than simply microwaving motorists with a radar gun.)

 

I found it significant to note how many drivers had to have their violation explained to them. Often I had to literally draw these righteously indignant motorists a picture of the obvious. I don't recall ever warning one of these people; they all got "scratched" since, in my view, their driving attitude needed to be adjusted. Interestingly, very few of these violators contested their infractions in court.

[jasonTDI]

That is one of my biggest peeves. I'll go into a right turn in the outside lane and they are making the left turn from oncoming traffic and they get all p.o. at me.....morons. Someone didn't pay attention in drivers ed.

[Bullett]

FWIW, in SLC, the drivers tend to cut their left hand turns into the oncoming traffic lanes. I have learned to stop well back from the intersection and towards the right lane to avoid being struck head on. None of these drivers seem to think there is anything wrong with the way they drive. . .

[der Wanderer]

One of the things on which I am working is trying to stop myself from making a world a better place...

 

That's tongue in cheek. What I mean is, I have had a tendency in similar situations of honking not just to signal my presence and avoid the accident but also to express (legitimate) outrage, and of trying to convey to the minivan driver (or equivalent) that they made a mistake. I have somewhat rationalized it by hoping making them aware of their mistake may prevent them from making that mistake again. Evidently that's foolish, and I am working on getting over that reaction, which can actually distract me from my driving and further endanger me...

[MotorinLA]

One of the things on which I am working is trying to stop myself from making a world a better place...

 

That's tongue in cheek. What I mean is, I have had a tendency in similar situations of honking not just to signal my presence and avoid the accident but also to express (legitimate) outrage, and of trying to convey to the minivan driver (or equivalent) that they made a mistake. I have somewhat rationalized it by hoping making them aware of their mistake may prevent them from making that mistake again. Evidently that's foolish, and I am working on getting over that reaction, which can actually distract me from my driving and further endanger me...

 

As my old partner one time explained to a violator we stopped:

 

"The horn is for emergencies, not for anger. If it was for anger, I'd be honking it all day long!"

 

If you knew my partner you'd understand that this was a true statement .

[der Wanderer]

Good one. I'll keep it in mind. I am improving, honest

[PBee]

As my old partner one time explained to a violator we stopped:

 

"The horn is for emergencies, not for anger. If it was for anger, I'd be honking it all day long!"

But sometimes honking out of anger can be so satisfying. Yesterday I was at a four-way stop patiently waiting to move on. Finally my turn came but apparently the young lady to my left decided that it should be "Ladies first" and started through the intersection at the same time. There was no emergency as I had plenty of time to stop but blasting the horn felt so darned good.

[mistercindy]

At the time I thought to myself, "I really should have stopped in the left lane, just in case another left turning vehicle goes wide."

And that kind of thinking is why some motorcyclists remain accident-free and others do not. Good job.

Yup. You did well.

 

 

 

 

 

In CA we just go to the front are are gone before the cars even apply foot to pedal.

We can't do that in Texas... 'for our safety...'

Sorry for the minor threadjack here, but that's not completely true. Lane splitting (which includes going between cars to the front of the line at a stop) is not illegal in Texas. The law simply doesn't address it. Whether or not you're cited depends on the officer who sees you. That's why, if you get cited for doing it, it'll be of the general-catch-all variety such as "unsafe driving," or somethig similar.

 

Although, I'd rather it be explicitly allowed as it is in California and the rest of the western industrialized world.

[der Wanderer]

Although, I'd rather it be explicitly allowed as it is in California and the rest of the western industrialized world.

 

I have ridden in many countries, and especially in Europe and Japan where I lived for extended durations. Custom in that domain varies greatly.

 

In some places in Europe (esp. on the circular highway around Paris called peripherique), there is now a de facto high speed lane between the two leftmost car lanes - lane splitting is not just for when the traffic is blocked, but occurs even when cars are doing 55 mph!). If you are driving a car in the leftmost lane, you are expected to stick to the left side of you lane, and to monitor your right rear view mirror. Bikes weave through cars at high speed, honking their way and occasionally forcing it through - I have seen some mirrors torn off or kicks to doors of "offending" cagers. It's very dangerous (I very often see evidence of accidents), stressful, and fosters a poor relationship between cars and bikes... It's certainly illegal, but it's reached a point where it is not enforceable apparently.

 

In Japan, where traffic jams are very frequent and frustrating, and bikers typically have a bad image, I have very often had cars trying to block me as I was carefully splitting lanes through completely stopped traffic... Not sure what the law says (don't ask, don't tell).

 

Does someone have a state by state list of where it is legal, illegal and gray area to line split? With an R bike, I hate sitting in the sun with the engine idling - very worried about risks to the bike. What do people do in bumper to bumper traffic?

[mistercindy]

Does someone have a state by state list of where it is legal, illegal and gray area to line split? With an R bike, I hate sitting in the sun with the engine idling - very worried about risks to the bike. What do people do in bumper to bumper traffic?

In one respect that's an easy list. Lane splitting is explicitly legal in only one state: California. Do a google search and you'll find that everywhere. Check Wikipedia's lane-splitting page, for example. What I don't know is where lane-splitting is explicitiy illegal.

 

I know in Texas and most other states lane-splitting is simply not mentioned in the relevant statutes. My bet is that's true in the vast majority of states because most states' version of a traffic code comes from the Universal Vehicle Code. There are lots of "Uniform" codes drafted by non-profit think tanks that do a lot of research, and many states use them or major portions of them as their enacted statutes.

 

Anyway, in those states its up to the officer and judge to decide if its okay on a case by case basis. Usually, since we're not a motorcycling culture, that means a person will be cited for unsafe driving. If the officer happens to be a rider, you're not likely to get a ticket if you're being sane about it. I've also known of the rare judge who's a motorcycle rider to throw the case out on the grounds that there's no law against it. But that is the small exception rather than the rule.

 

A few states explicitly forbid lane-splitting (I think Michigan is one of them), but I believe its the minority.

[11101110]

Does someone have a state by state list of where it is legal, illegal and gray area to line split? With an R bike, I hate sitting in the sun with the engine idling - very worried about risks to the bike. What do people do in bumper to bumper traffic?

 

Virginia is specifically illegal. Law states that no two (or more) vehicles (not specific to motorcycles) shall occupy the same lane. I think there was some mention of motorcycles being prohibited from operating two abreast in the same lane (LEO exempted of course).

[der Wanderer]

On Sunday night I was on a 20+ miles stretch of highway (I-5 from Olympia beyond Tacoma). Bumper to bumper at 5 mph, lots of putting a foot on the ground, rather hot weather. Oil temp indicator was showing 6 to 7 bars.

 

A couple bikes were running (slowly and cautiously) on the side of the highway on the emergency lane... I did the gregarious thing and followed. That dropped 1 to 2 bars on the temperature indicator. I guessed if I'd been stopped I would have pleaded the "my poor oilhead was overheating" line...

 

What do you guys do in such circumstances? Stay in lane? Split? Ride on emergency lane? Take the next exit and go for dinner?

 

Thanks

[smiller]

Lane splitting (which includes going between cars to the front of the line at a stop) is not illegal in Texas. The law simply doesn't address it. Whether or not you're cited depends on the officer who sees you. That's why, if you get cited for doing it, it'll be of the general-catch-all variety such as "unsafe driving," or somethig similar.

 

Although, I'd rather it be explicitly allowed as it is in California and the rest of the western industrialized world.

Lane sharing is not explicitly allowed in California, just not prohibited. But as you mentioned... in looking through the Texas Transportaion Code I can't find any prohibition against lane sharing in Texas either. There seem to be some statutes that could be substituted, such as a the nebulous requirement to pass 'at a safe distance', but nothing specific. I wonder if any Texas LEOs could comment..?

 

[AviP]

Left turning drivers are focused on making the left turn so it doesn't matter whether you are in their blind spot or not since they are not looking behind. IMHO a little acceleration might have avoided the danger.