Yeah, these are exactly the things that make me exclaim “Thus do I refute Heinlein!”
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I totally fail to see why ‘lane splitting’ (i.e. motorcyclists riding between two cars) should be totally illegal. I get that while traffic is in motion all users should adopt correct lane use and lane switching protocols for overtaking, etc. But once traffic is in a queue, just let the two-wheelers go through the gaps and be on their way. That’s pretty much how it works in UK, at least.
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I wasn’t confused at all.
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i don’t really see a need for it, and i’ve seen lots of close calls due to blind spots, and it’s not when cars are sitting idle in traffic – it’s while everyone is moving. i just think it’s dangerous because the drivers are not always anticipating the motorcyclists zipping along between cars. Of course, the guns in the mix here certainly didn’t help matters.
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Yeah, but I excluded that.
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Darwin gets a double, maybe there needs to be another category for Darwin like the poor kids who watched their dad die of stupidity and will carry that forever. Collateral damage to innocent bystanders
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The Highway Code permits filtering (splitting) even when traffic is in motion. Personally, I only filter when traffic is slow-moving and keep my speed around 10mph more than cars when filtering and have all my observations turned up to 11.
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Lane sharing isn’t legal in my home state, and it always freaks me out when I see it elsewhere. When I rode, I never once considered it. It always seemed like instant death to me.
And that’s without pissing off an armed nut job.
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For one thing, it makes things terrifyingly unpredictable. My sister had a membrane rupture at 23 weeks pregnant and as I was trying to reach the hospital as quickly as possible, a guy on the freeway on an orange motorcycle decided to cut in front of me just as I was pulling forward and nearly closed the distance between my car and the car to my left. We are all lucky he didn’t get smashed between my front fender and the other car’s rear fender. I had to slam on the brakes because he came out of absolutely nowhere because he was riding the line and trying to get ahead of the slow down.
But the thing is, this kind of recklessness causes slow downs to begin with. You know, like when I had to slam on the brakes to narrowly avoid murdering someone?
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When motorcyclists pass me I expect them to pull in in front of me and allow for that. I also maintain a safe distance between me and the car in front to allow for the fact that I may need to brake suddenly if the car in front does, the car in front may stall if in stationary start/stop traffic, and I may need space to be able to pull round it, and so on and so forth. Driving too close to the ar n front is a major cause of accidents.
But then, here in UK we are habituated to the types of behaviour our Highway Code allows and drive accordingly. Mostly.
Part of the problem on US roads is how many truly huge “passenger” vehicles we have on our highway. A lifted dually pickup truck blocks vision of the area between lanes (because it takes up the entirety of it’s lane from dotted line to dotted line) so that a smaller vehicle in front of it can’t see an overtaking motorcycle splitting lanes until it’s already overtaking. So the smaller vehicle in front starts to change lanes because it can’t see the motorcycle, and the motorcycle has no room to maneuver because of the monstrosity that blocked the smaller vehicle’s vision.
Yes, a solution would be to limit vehicle size for non-commercial vehicles, but that’s not the situation we have right now. So that’s why splitting lanes when traffic is moving is dangerous here.
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Nah, it’s obvious what’s needed here. Much smaller motorcycles. 
(Or, maybe … much bigger ones!)
I wasn’t following the vehicle ahead of me too closely. You misunderstood. The other car was in the lane next to me. I was moving forward because my lane was slightly faster. The lane splitter wanted into my lane because the space between cars wasn’t big enough for him to simply zip all the way down the middle. That’s why I was shocked and scared when he veered in front of me out of nowhere.
I’m honestly a little offended you think I was tailgating anyone. My car automatically sets a safe follow distance based on sensors, which I overrode by hitting the brake when the motorcyclist decided to risk his life to keep moving faster than the rest of traffic.
Edit to add: I drew a picture. It was actually a section of the freeway that was curved and narrow going through an older, more wooded area. We were all going the same direction. So I guess it should be a white line, but that wouldn’t show up super well. I drive a Honda CR-V and the other car was an older one. Maybe a Buick or Chevrolet. The point is, there was only just enough space for him to zip through, but it was closing, and it scared and infuriated me that he would risk it under the circumstances. Edit again: I just remembered I was driving my mother in law’s Prius. No sensors on that one, because it’s an older model. But still. I wasn’t tailgating anyone. I live in terror of hurting anyone with my vehicle.
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One of most infuriating things about driving on the Parkways on Long Island is the way drivers pack way too close together. Leave enough room for safety and some asshat will change lanes to fill the space. Add in everyone is doing about 70 on a road with a 50MPH speed limit-motorcycles just added their own frisson.
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If a driver cannot make sufficient observation they should not manoeuvre – simple as that.
In the case you describe the rider should always bear in mind that something like that might happen (because they will always come off second best) and ride accordingly.
Riders have better field of vision than most vehicles, and they are able to change position within a lane to improve it, and they should be constantly using it to judge their next move, this observation becomes more useful with the ability to predict the possibilities and that only comes with experience.
With that in mind, I would approach alongside the large vehicle keeping an eye out for an indication of what is in front of it (not just one vehicle ahead but as far as I can, I should be able to see the front of the car ahead before it could see me), at the same time I am looking out for spaces in the adjacent lanes that a vehicle could conceivably move into, also junctions, road conditions, other road users. Once I am happy that I can proceed move ahead a bit quicker to make sure I am out of any blindspot for the driver and start the process again. I have broken this down into sections, in reality it is a smoother continuous series of actions and I always hold enough in reserve to either slow or accelerate if conditions alter.
All getting off topic and no way of knowing if this would have prevented the events that led up to the two deaths, or the event that @Dasylupe described. And there are always arseholes who think they are invulnerable.
Ah - I get it. I’d call that “weaving” and it will get you the attention of the police here, if they can be arsed. Risks a charge of dangerous driving or driving without due care and attention.
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It’s supposed to be an infraction in the US, too. The only thing worse than a motorcyclist weaving, are cars weaving in and out of lanes. They do it A LOT on SoCal freeways, which is why it’s near impossible to give enough room for breaking. You keep trying, but easily more than half of the drivers will weave in and out of lanes when you allow a cushion.
I think I’ve mention this before, but I had a CHP motorcycle officer who lived on my the street in the early 2000s, and she said she tended to ignore speeding if the flow was chill. She said she always went after the weavers because they could cause accidents and serously fuck up the freeway for hours.
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Yep. The most dangerous manoeuvre on motorways/multi-lane highways (and possibly the most dangerous of all) statistically is… changing lanes!
It is definitely the biggest cause of motorway accidents in the UK.
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