Experienced some Road Rage Saturday

[nhbubba]

...you'll have to accelerate harder than me and go fast enough to get safely ahead of me on your own.

Which, in my experience, is trivial for most non-cruisers and 98% of the cars/trucks you find on our roads. Despite what the clapped out honda civic and V8 SUV crowds thinks.

[KnuckleBallz]

Cops don't care if you filter in Boston, in my experience.

When I do it, it's because I know I'm getting off the line faster than you. (Probably why Harleys don't use this tactic)

I love the people that stop 4 feet from the white line too....I'm filling that space 10 times out 10.

[nhbubba]

I've been getting more and more aggressive in traffic on the bike these days. So far most barely give me a 2nd look and we all just motor on. A min later and I'm out of their face moving up the line. ... But I am convinced one of these days my luck will run out and I will encounter an 'enforcer' who feels it is their God given right to enforce their idea of right and wrong using the front end of their 2-ton SUV.

That will suck.

[gixxer72]

It doesn't have anything to do with the type of bike and getting ahead of traffic. I see plenty of Harleys do it. It comes down to good control and effective use of the power you have to accelerate away cleanly. Most big twins have this nifty characteristic called torque..

[TheIglu]

Most scooters can do the same. Just spent a week driving around Italy. The US could learn a lesson about road manners and mutual benefit of lane splitting from these people.

[jasnmar]

But I am convinced one of these days my luck will run out and I will encounter an 'enforcer' who feels it is their God given right to enforce their idea of right and wrong using the front end of their 2-ton SUV.

From http://lanesplittingislegal.com/lane...eleased-by-ots

Another big deal for riders is drivers blocking riders who are lane splitting. This is explicitly mentioned as illegal in the CHP lane splitting guidelines but unfortunately there is not a significant change in drivers blocking riders.

“Have you ever tried preventing a motorcycle that was lane-splitting from passing you?”

	Percent 2013	Percent 2012
Yes	6.4%	7.3%
No	93.6%	92.7%

As for why this small percentage of drivers do this, the “it’s unfair!” complaint shows up, with 11.6% of blocking drivers giving this as the reason they block lane splitters. 14.5% of blockers say they engage in this aggressive, dangerous behavior because lane splitting is unsafe. That’s right – these drivers think they should block riders with their car because lane splitting is unsafe. Similarly, 17.4% of blocking drivers said they try to prevent riders from lane splitting because lane splitting may cause them to have an accident. Cue head explosions here.

So in summary ~7% of people break the law to prevent lane splitting in a state where it is perfectly legal to lane split.

Let's be careful out there.

[nhbubba]

So in summary ~7% of people freely admit they break the law to prevent lane splitting in a state where it is perfectly legal to lane split.

Fixed.

[AEG]

Most scooters can do the same. Just spent a week driving around Italy. The US could learn a lesson about road manners and mutual benefit of lane splitting from these people.

Curious what part of Italy, north or south? Anywere from Rome down soth it is very common to turn left from the right line and vice versa

[01xj]

I've been getting more and more aggressive in traffic on the bike these days. So far most barely give me a 2nd look and we all just motor on. A min later and I'm out of their face moving up the line. ... But I am convinced one of these days my luck will run out and I will encounter an 'enforcer' who feels it is their God given right to enforce their idea of right and wrong using the front end of their 2-ton SUV.

That will suck.

I split very infrequently but haven't come across anyone who who's been that brazen. The worst I had was people flipping me off and honking on 91 between Springfield and Northampton.

[AEG]

I split very infrequently but haven't come across anyone who who's been that brazen. The worst I had was people flipping me off and honking on 91 between Springfield and Northampton.

How rude of them, nobody opened a door for you?

[TheIglu]

Curious what part of Italy, north or south? Anywere from Rome down soth it is very common to turn left from the right line and vice versa

Sorrento for 4 days (during the hottest part of the year, holy shit traffic), then Rome for 2. Just got back Tuesday.

[stoinkythepig]

It doesn't have anything to do with the type of bike and getting ahead of traffic. I see plenty of Harleys do it. It comes down to good control and effective use of the power you have to accelerate away cleanly. Most big twins have this nifty characteristic called torque..

That must be why Harleys are so much quicker than my pokey old ZX9R. I wish I could have some torque. Is there any way to multiply it? Seems like one could just use some form of gears and maybe a chain and some sprockets to increase torque.

[KnuckleBallz]

It doesn't have anything to do with the type of bike and getting ahead of traffic. I see plenty of Harleys do it.

Just a little joke....weird that that's what you took away from my post.

[golden chicken]

My opinion is, if you don't want a car pulling up beside you in your lane--and let's face it, that's a little frightening whether you're stopped or not--then don't lane split. It's gotta work both ways if you want any kind of respect or cooperation from the people who don't ride.

Say you're riding along in the right wheel track of the left lane (where it's the safest) and moving along at a steady 75. You're passing people in the middle and right lanes at a reasonable rate and you're glancing in your mirrors every once in a while so you can yield to anyone who wants to go 80. Wouldn't you be shocked if someone raced onto the highway, cut all the way over to the left lane behind you and passed you on the left in your lane? Happened to me.

Say you're sitting at a suburban traffic light in the left wheel track (where it's safest) intending to continue straight ahead when the light changes. Wouldn't you be indignant if some soccer mom stuffed her SUV in beside you, also intending to proceed straight? Happened to me.

We all like to have a safety cushion of space around us, whether we're in our cars or riding our motorcycles. Lane splitting puts a vehicle unexpectedly inside our safety cushion, even if the vehicle is doing it with a high degree of skill and at a reasonable relative speed and time. You can rationalize it all you want, but I bet the immediate emotional response of most people to this invasion of space is surprise and anger.

I'd also argue that lane splitting and filtering in the US has an insignificant impact on traffic congestion. Traffic on the 405 doesn't magically disappear because a handful of bikes tip-toe their way through. We still have traffic jams and holdups all year-round here, where presumably all the bikes are put away for the winter (except for RandyO) and when they come out in droves for the summer. Sure, traffic is lighter in the summer, but that just means your hour in traffic is down to 45 minutes, and really, how much is actually related to motorcycles and how much is related to people on vacation and school being out?

Do I lane split? I admit I have a few times in extremely heavy traffic, so I'm no saint, but I just try to look at it from both sides and not just the "Ooh, I get to get ahead" side.

[luukasama]

Luckily, I've never had to experience a car pulling right into my lane beside me just because I'm trying to stay the further away from traffic, i.e. left wheel lane in the left most lane, and visa versa. I have seen said thing happen in snowcat's videos on Youtube, which I think is quite bold and asking for trouble. I don't understand the mentality that just because the bike is smaller that it doesn't the full lane to itself (unless you're a on a bicycle, then you shouldn't be trying to ride in the lane with cars going 30-40 miles anyway). The aggressiveness if most oft seen in people in huge 4x4's, and sometimes SUVs, because they think size = right to road, apparently. But we all know what they're all making up for, hehe

I don't quite have the proverbial balls to lane split yet, regardless if it was illegal or not in MA. This weekend though, I've almost lane split. I've managed to get behind cars and accelerate enough that I jump (SAFELY, of course) lanes in front of slower accelerating cars. There's nothing more maddening than being stuck on the road when two cars just decided to ride side by side, unwittingly or not, and there's no safety margin to just jet between them. Anytime I try to lane split though, I am reminded of this video where you see these two Harley's ride side by side, as they oft to do, and suddenly this douchebag rider on a sport bike splits rights between them, going something like 60-80 miles above the speed limit. Seriously, he was in and out like lightning (that's what she said, lol). Thinking of that just makes me turned off on lane splitting to begin with.