Another lane splitting accident 101

[notacop]

In this same vein, I've followed LEO's lane splitting and have had them follow me. The one that followed must have just gotten off shift and let me do the wave parting to save some energy after a day of dealing with scoff laws.

He waved as I peeled off and he kept going. The one's I followed, they were gone. They do a better job of it than I do.

[jaytee]

I think the odds of getting rear ended out there far far outweigh the odds of an accident like the one that prompted this thread. I'll bet the rear enders out number this type of accident 100:1 at least...

Rather than looking at the odds, let's look at the potential for injury;

Would you rather bounce around between a couple of vehicles that are going a speed somewhat near yours, knowing that most drivers will swerve away from the sound of something hitting their car?

OR

Would you rather sit stopped behind a car with little chance of evasive maneuvers relying on distracted latte sipping, cell phone talking (or worse; texting) Prius drivers to stop before they cream you into the bumper of the work truck in front of you?

 

Exactly.

 

 

+3

[g_frey]

I visited California a long time ago for the first time and knew nothing about lane splitting. Stopped in traffic on some large highway. I started to open my pickup door to stand on the sill to see what was up ahead. Just then a sportbike doing I guess about 60 mph passed lane splitting me. It scared the hell out of me especially when his buddy passed 2 seconds later. I sometimes wonder if I would have killed one, both, neither, or myself if I had opened the door 1 second earlier. I did check the rearview mirror but it was not recently enough to notice these guys coming. I don't know if either rider noticed that the door was partway open. I would guess that rider #1 would have died and #2 would have been seriously injured while I would have escaped injury free.

[LeftCoastMan]

I visited California a long time ago for the first time and knew nothing about lane splitting. Stopped in traffic on some large highway. I started to open my pickup door to stand on the sill to see what was up ahead. Just then a sportbike doing I guess about 60 mph passed lane splitting me. It scared the hell out of me especially when his buddy passed 2 seconds later. I sometimes wonder if I would have killed one, both, neither, or myself if I had opened the door 1 second earlier. I did check the rearview mirror but it was not recently enough to notice these guys coming. I don't know if either rider noticed that the door was partway open. I would guess that rider #1 would have died and #2 would have been seriously injured while I would have escaped injury free.

 

You made two mistakes. We'll ignore the one where you almost got a motorcycle. The more important one is thinking you can tell what is causing a traffic jam in California. They happen all the time, and you just get used to it.

[upflying]

Had a lane split scare this morning. Two lane freeway, #1 lane stopped and the #2 lane had a slow moving big rig and a huge gap in front of it. What do cage driver's do when there is a large opening in front of a big rig and they are sitting in a lane with stopped traffic? Yep, lane change. This would have been bad because stopped cages a prone to do 45 degree lane changes. This pinballs me directly in the path and under the wheels of the big rig. Made through it ok, but my premonition and intuition survival skills gave me an "oh shyt" moment.

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

Btw, I wish safe lane sharing were made legal (or at least not illegal) in all 50 states. I wish the AMA and other motorcycle advocacy groups would get behind this. (Oops, sorry about the soapbox and possible hijack.)

 

I'm going to pick up on this hijack. There's a couple of important notes I think we should address.

 

First, lane sharing in CA not legal per se. The laws here basically state that "if it's not illegal, then it's okay." Lane sharing in CA is "not illegal." There's a difference as you'll not see it addressed specifically in the Vehicle Code. (perhaps some of our LEO's could confirm this and/or point us to the appropriate sections.)

 

Next, depending on who you talk to, there is no such thing as safe lane sharing. We all know the "guidelines" and well spread pointers on how to do it more safely, but you'll never get enough people to agree in an official capacity exactly what that is. In fact, if you go to a state where lane sharing is illegal but riding around without a helmet isn't, you'll probably find that most of the helmetless motorcyclists think lane sharing is a death wish.

 

...and now back to our regularly scheduled program...

[blackyam]

First, lane sharing in CA not legal per se. The laws here basically state that "if it's not illegal, then it's okay." Lane sharing in CA is "not illegal." There's a difference as you'll not see it addressed specifically in the Vehicle Code. (perhaps some of our LEO's could confirm this and/or point us to the appropriate sections.)

 

I'm not a Leo and don't know the VC; however, this CHP web page states:

 

Can motorcycle riders "split" lanes and ride between other vehicles?

Lane splitting by motorcycles is permissible but must be done in a safe and prudent manner.

 

Btw, in my earlier post, I said the "Shoot the Gap" commercial was a Honda commercial when it is actually a VW commercial. Sorry.

 

---John.

[David13]

What is illegal is opening your car door into traffic. I can dig out the code section later. Or if someone knows it. But opening your car door into traffic is a code violation.

In California.

dc

[motoguy128]

In fact, if you go to a state where lane sharing is illegal but riding around without a helmet isn't, you'll probably find that most of the helmetless motorcyclists think lane sharing is a death wish.

 

 

Most of those same folks also firmly believe that loud pipes make them safer too.

[upflying]

What is illegal is opening your car door into traffic. I can dig out the code section later. Or if someone knows it. But opening your car door into traffic is a code violation.

In California.

dc

I think it applies to parked vehicles...

22517. No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side

available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so and

can be done without interfering with the movement of such traffic,

nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle

available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than

necessary to load or unload passengers.

 

[David13]

All the other sections in that area mention stop or park. If this applied to a parked vehicle only, it could easily say so. And it doesn't mention parked only. It just says open the door.

So.

dc

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

The major sections in the CVC are blocked by emphasis. This, I believe, is in Parking.