Legal Consequences of Lane Splitting/Filtering?

[rocker59]

Originally Posted by duncanmac

Still, when in Rome, do as the Romans do; so if and when I need to do something that is common sense but nevertheless illegal and/or frowned upon, I will do it with great caution.

As was mentioned earlier, if you are riding where the riding is good, splitting and filtering will not be needed.

[atomicalex]

Originally Posted by khager

demanding cash on the spot, I mean what kind of impression does that leave?

That's what they do here in Germany....

Regarding drivers in the US, I've driven all over, and Boston is by far the most aggressive, anger-filled city I have been in. Even the Beltway is not as aggressive, but it is anger-filled! CA, OTOH, is more like Germany - fast, lots of speed differentials, but organized. The CA traffic seemed a bit resigned to being in traffic, but not terribly upset about it. Just waiting it out, enjoying the sun and some tunes. When I can hear your radio through my helmet, well....

I am looking forward to coming home to Detroit, I can see that it might be a bit of a surprise when I ride up along side of someone, but my German is pretty good.... Can't wait to be the next "Mrs Z"*


*Dieter Zetsche's rule-breaking wife, who was arrested at least once for forgetting that she was not in Germany any more.

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by Ianstein

On my trip across the US, the only place I felt even tempted to lane split was on the California freeways. Everywhere else, traffic either moved quick or people didn't block the passing lane.

Try driving on I-10 thru Phx and down to Tucson or up the I-70 corridor thru CO. People camping in the left lane makes my head explode.

That said....the CA freeways were scary and riding the car pool lane or lane splitting was probably the only thing that kept me alive. Afternoon traffic on a 90 degree day was just about suicide. After 30 minutes of combating shitty asian lady drivers, I said fuck the consequences and just split till i found a lane with a huge gap and got the hell out of there. At the time I didn't know you could lane split and CHP was everywhere.

Sharing lanes involves another skill-set that not many get to practice. Get good at it and you find gaps appearing almost as if magic. You find that you can predict what's going to happen a few cars ahead of you based on what you're seeing/hearing. etc. Trick is doing it consistently.

Oh, and watch yer friggen mirrors! There WILL be people sharing faster than you. Get the funk outta the way and let em past.

M

[DOGSROOT]

Originally Posted by duck

Agreed. I used to work and drive in the Boston area too. Driving is much more of a competitive sport there.

If you want to see a place with truly bad drivers by any standard then go to British Columbia. Not all of them are bad but their proportion of bad drivers is pretty high. I always stay clear of cars with BC plates.

OMFG, yes!!!

I concur, and add that the bad ones are really BAD, as in not-a-freakin'-clue bad.

(A small plus: Vangroovey has a decent system of back-street bike lanes that removes a % of bicycles from the roads.)

Originally posted by duncanmac
In Australia, another country where this type of attitude does regrettably exist, it is really only the odd person here and there that will take aggressive action against the motorcyclist. Strange though it may seem, cagers tend to be more antsy against bicycles, as THERE is a body of folk in which the number of those who believe they have superior road rights compared to others is quite pronounced.

Duncanmac, it ain't just in Oz where road users dislike bicycles.

Perhaps it's because in any collision, it's often (unreasonably) automatically assumed

that the big bad car was in the wrong?

Many bicyclists constantly ignore all traffic laws, and then of course want to apply the full weight of those traffic laws

anytime there is an *accident*; no wonder they are viewed as a menace.

Nobody likes a hypocrite.

Solution=GoPro.

I dislike the extreme disconnect here in Toronto between their lawless conduct on the roads,

and the incessant political clamouring for "more rights".

All the rights in the world won't help you when you're stuck under a truck; just ride safe!
.
.
.

[Petzl]

I ride to New york City everyday about a 25 mile trip to work. I pretty much lane split on the way home everyday. I havent had too many issues with cagers. Maybe a handful in the 2 years I have been doing it.
I have actually driven right past a LEO and No issues so far.
I drive through at less than 25mph and I will have to say MOST cars will move over for me. When they do I try to always give a polite wave to them. It seems to help them remember for the next time.

Lucky So Far...

[jeepinbanditrider]

When I rode in NYC we sat in traffic for a few minutes before the bikes started passing us filtering then we pulled out and did the same.


Sent from my iPhone

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by jeepinbanditrider

When I rode in NYC we sat in traffic for a few minutes before the bikes started passing us filtering then we pulled out and did the same.


Sent from my iPhone

FWI've been told, the NYPD takes a dim view on sharing/filtering. I've seen pics from inmates that've been stopped (or had just escaped being stopped) at checkpoints. Be careful

M

[GeckoRider]

Check points in NYC are a whole other thing. They are fishing for bikes without registration and insurance. After six years there I never got hooked but I did not ride much in the city as I found it super awful after having lived in CA. Escape from NY indeed.

[khager]

I think the Motorcycle only checkpoints should be unconstitutional. I am glad Texas doesn't have them.

[DOGSROOT]

Originally Posted by khager

I think the Motorcycle only checkpoints should be unconstitutional. I am glad Texas doesn't have them.

+1

That there's profiling.

Never heard of this before.

Don't like it much.

[ttpete]

Originally Posted by khager

I think the Motorcycle only checkpoints should be unconstitutional. I am glad Texas doesn't have them.

You can thank the current administration in Washington for providing earmarked funds for motorcycle checkpoints.

Michigan doesn't have checkpoints of any kind. They have to stop ALL vehicles or NONE. An Attorney General's Opinion that carries the force of law.

[ShineySideUp]

I am recalling that Calif. passed a law in 2012 that prohibits mc only checkpoints in Calif.

[slartidbartfast]

Originally Posted by ttpete

You can thank the current administration in Washington for providing earmarked funds for motorcycle checkpoints.

Please elaborate

[khager]

Originally Posted by ttpete

You can thank the current administration in Washington for providing earmarked funds for motorcycle checkpoints.

I didn't vote for the current administration, neither this time, nor in 2008. Unfortunately there are plenty of idiots in the rest of the country.

[jeepinbanditrider]

Motorcycle-only safety checkpoints have revved up controversy among some lawmakers who say the inspections are another example of intrusive federal policies. A measure inserted into the House transportation bill would bar the U.S. Department of Transportation from providing grants to local or state governments for such inspections.
The action grows out of a furor over checkpoints set up in Georgia last year and planned again this year under a $70,000 federal traffic safety grant.
The roadside checkpoints operate similar to the popular drunk-driving checkpoints. Law enforcement officials signal motorcyclists to pull over and then conduct on-the-spot safety inspections, checking on the condition of the bikes and whether drivers are properly licensed and complying with the state helmet law.
Similar checkpoints have been set up in New York.
But Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who pushed for the provision in the bill, assailed motorcycle-only checkpoints as "an intrusive governmental overreach."
"Motorcycle riders are right to be outraged at being singled out for safety inspections," Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.) added in a statement.
Jackie Gillan, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, criticized the provision. The group describes itself on its website as a coalition of "consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America's roads safer."
"What you see are the fingerprints of the anti-helmet people,'' Gillan said in an interview. "We're fighting efforts in state legislatures to repeal rider helmet laws. Now, what they're doing is attacking, in those states that require helmets, the ability of law enforcement to enforce the law.''
A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesman said that the agency's administrator David Strickland is concerned about the increasing proportion of fatalities among motorcyclists.
"If the argument is, well, you can't single us out by vehicle, we do,'' said Lt. Jim Halvorsen of the New York State Police. "When we do seat-belt checkpoints, we waive the motorcyclists through because they don't have seat belts. Both helmets and seatbelts are required safety devices."
Of approximately 27,000 motorcyclists that passed through their checkpoints last year, about 2,500 were stopped for closer inspection, Halvorsen said. Of those, 380 were ticketed for an illegal helmet. Six motorcyclists were arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. Forty-nine motorcyclists were ticketed for operating a motorcycle without the proper license class. A total of 1,665 tickets were issued.
In 2009, 4,462 motorcyclists were killed, a decrease of 16% from the previous year, according to the most recent figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Twenty-two percent of motorcycle riders involved in fatal crashes in 2009 were riding without a valid motorcycle license at the time of the collision, compared with 12% of drivers of passenger vehicles involved in fatal crashes who lacked a valid license, according to the agency.
The American Motorcyclist Assn. believes that "strategies to promote motorcycle safety must be rooted in motorcycle crash prevention, and don't include arbitrarily pulling over riders and randomly subjecting them to roadside inspections," according to its vice president of government relations, former Colorado Sen. Wayne Allard.
Strickland, in a 2010 letter to the American Motorcyclist Assn., noted that of 225 motorcyclists inspected at one New York checkpoint, 11% were found to have unsafe tires, and 36%were not wearing helmets meeting state law.
A letter sent to the House Transportation Committee by the bipartisan group of lawmakers in support of the provision said that funds would be better spent on educational programs aimed at reducing motorcycle crashes
Both chambers of Congress are expected to consider their own versions of the transportation bill next week.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nati...eckpoints.html


http://viewsinpolitics.com/www__Dmot...__leeterry.php


http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/...eckpoints.aspx