Thoughts/Opinions: How to increase commuting by two wheels?

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Originally Posted by SVRACER01

Wirelessly posted (GS3)

After spend a week driving in CA on a bike, I have to say that lane splitting is the greatest thing ever. And being able to split between the HOV lane regular travel lane was awesome at 70mph. Filtering was tough on such a big bike. Splitting was pretty easy while traveling. If there wasnt enough room, all I had to do was hug the line for few moments and then people would move. I will say that I had the shit scared out of me while riding in a cab when a bike flew by. All in all it obviously works, even the cab driver said "motorcycles have the right of way out here"
I agree that people have that whole "youre not getting ahead of me" mentality but I think eventually people would get over it. The issue is the pure lack of respect for motorcyclists. I was at the parking lot at the bus station yesterday where they have "motorcycle only" parking...with 3 cars parked in it.

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When I was on the PCH last year and I came upon a slower car they would move over so I could pass them mostly in our lane. It was amazing and would be a long hard fight to get people to act like that here.

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Originally Posted by scottieducati

PhilB is spot on in his reply, "special privileges" they are not, we think of them this way as drivers here think that driving is a RIGHT, whereas all drivers are "privileged" to use the road. Not much you can do about that. ...

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The "driving is a privilege" line is bullshit, used by the state as an excuse to not have to respect our rights. We ALL have the same right to travel, and to choose our mode of travel. Bike riders have as much a right as car drivers; the problem is that too many car drivers think we don't.

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Originally Posted by scottieducati

... You are also discussing gridlocked traffic on highways, this is lane splitting which I've already discussed that I'm on the fence about because it's so hard to enforce responsible lane splitting. ...

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It's not too hard. The rest of the world manages it. Hell, even CA can do it. The CHP uses an informal guideline that the lanesplitter should not be going more than 10-15 mph faster than traffic, and traffic should not be going more than 35-40 mph. If they spot you splitting like an ass, they can ticket you for unsafe passing, or unsafe speed for conditions, or reckless if you're really deserving.

PhilB

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Originally Posted by obsolete

When I was on the PCH last year and I came upon a slower car they would move over so I could pass them mostly in our lane. It was amazing and would be a long hard fight to get people to act like that here.

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there are lots of signs and turnouts for slower vehicles. some people wouldnt move, most would. if you caught up to a line of cars then forget it, no one would move.

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Originally Posted by SVRACER01

Wirelessly posted (GS3)
The issue is the pure lack of respect for motorcyclists. I was at the parking lot at the bus station yesterday where they have "motorcycle only" parking...with 3 cars parked in it.

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I've been to motorcycle shops with cars parked in the motorcycle parking. This is a real thing.

It starts with educating the public.

We're not rushing to the front of the line, we're one less car you have to sit in traffic behind.

We won't cause an accident, you're not moving.

It's safer because when we're in between stopped cars, we can't be rear ended.

List goes on and on...

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Originally Posted by SVRACER01

there are lots of signs and turnouts for slower vehicles. some people wouldnt move, most would. if you caught up to a line of cars then forget it, no one would move.

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Really? Musta been a good day for me. Everyone moved over and quickly too.

I know it's stating the obvious, but increasing the number of commuters involves finding ways to motivate two very different groups of people - those who already ride, but don't commute, and those who don't ride, but would consider it with the right motivation. If you made a list of the suggestions so far, which would appeal to one of the groups, or both, or none?

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Originally Posted by oVTo

I know it's stating the obvious, but increasing the number of commuters involves finding ways to motivate two very different groups of people - those who already ride, but don't commute, and those who don't ride, but would consider it with the right motivation. If you made a list of the suggestions so far, which would appeal to one of the groups, or both, or none?

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I think the "low-hanging fruit" would be those who already ride -- have a bike, have a license, etc. -- and attract them to ride more for transportation in addition to the fun stuff. Once some decent progress has been made there, and the rest of the people start seeing more bikes being used, then Stage Two would be to start working to attract new riders.

PhilB