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Hypocrisy_Central's avatar

Do motorcyclists seem callous about speeding when splitting lanes?

Asked by Hypocrisy_Central (26879points) September 30th, 2015
8 responses
“Great Question” (0points)

OK, maybe it is not all motorcyclists but some seem to take chances and blast between cars as if they are trying to see how fast they can do it. The law originated, I believe, when motorcycles were simple and had air-cooled engines and had to stay moving or overheat. In gridlock conditions I heard they can split lanes but had to do it at 20mph or lower. Most of the cyclists I see in gridlock seem to blow by at 45mph or more, often appearing like ”Let’s see how fast I can get by these cars”. One driver not looking and shooting a gap right as a cyclist is there can spell disaster, and which aftermath has been witnessed on occasion. Does this behavior of motorcyclists happen where you live? Do they drive between cars at a lower safer speed? What do you think would make a motorcyclist feel taking an extra 5–8 minutes to get through the gridlock at a safer speed, allowing them more time to react to any peril, so unappealing that they feel they must split the lane going 45–60mph?

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Answers

jerv's avatar

Spend a few hours in Seattle and you’ll see cars do it too.

kevbo's avatar

There’s an aviation saying that probably applies which is that there are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.

JLeslie's avatar

In stopped traffic it doesn’t bother me much. In fast moving traffic I think it is a horrible hazard. Many drivers on the road suck at predicting where faster drivers where take opportunities to move ahead of traffic. These drivers often are less aware of what is around them in my experience. Add in motorcycles are often not seen in the road to begin with, and many drivers don’t give motorcycles extra space. Now, we are suggesting motorcycles from seemingly out of nowhere weave through traffic when most drivers assume there is no room for lane changing by vehicles. Don’t forget a little weaving inside of a lane isn’t that uncommon in the day of a distracted drivers so the “line” the motorcyclist chooses might get blocked suddenly.

Not good.

As the ER doctors say—donorcycles. God Forbid.

zenvelo's avatar

First of all, as your first sentence points out, it’s not all motorcyclists so a categorical statement is no more applicable to motorcyclist than it is to all automobile drivers.

And the California Vehicle Code does not “permit” it nor does it set a speed limit on it, it just does not prohibit it.

I don’t like it much as a driver, but I am not the one taking the risk. And next time it seems like a risk to avoid “an extra 5–8 minutes”; consider all the texting drivers who are weaving in and out of the stop and go traffic trying to be at the exit 5 seconds before the next guy.

Distracted drivers are a much bigger problem.

Jaxk's avatar

Motorcyclists in general are a bit more daring but most keep it reasonable and are typically more aware of their surroundings. White-lining is common in heavy traffic and I have no problem with it. A miscalculation by the biker will cost the biker much more than the car. Let the biker beware.

Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One's avatar

Giant, heavy, powerful engines on an unsteady platform of two wheels? The gurantee that you will crash at some point during your life? The lack of utilitarian space? Ape-hangers?

I’m not sure there’s much of anything I understand about motorcycle enthusiasts. But they would same the same of me.

Folks do a wide variety of things to experience “freedom”. Dodging between cars at high speeds is one of them. All I can say is good luck. Hopefully you don’t hit a door.

ARE_you_kidding_me's avatar

They (we) call those motorcyclists “squids” A.K.A. soon to be deceased or x-motorcycle riders. They don’t represent us and are a drag on the motorcycling community. I have been riding 15 years and never split lanes. Being a motorcyclist usually makes you hyper-aware and a much better driver

Hypocrisy_Central's avatar

@zenvelo Distracted drivers are a much bigger problem.
Distracted drivers don’t make the plight of motorcyclist who darts between cars at speeds they can’t stop if a vehicle changes lanes in front of them at the last minute; if anything, they are adding to it.

@ARE_you_kidding_me They don’t represent us and are a drag on the motorcycling community.
For me personally, they do not drag down the whole riding population but they do their part. Some riders ride at a reasonably safe speed, others seem like it is a game to see how many vehicles they can pass in a minute or each mile. Today I saw one cyclist have to move over to let another cyclist through because the first cyclist wasn’t lane splitting fast enough. When you have a gap open larger than a peanut and some vehicle is trying to dart in there, sometimes two at the same time, if that opening forms while the cyclist is three vehicles back and the driver trying to get in that slot doesn’t notice the lane splitting cyclist, it is a disaster waiting to happen and it will fall more on the cyclist because they are going to get messed up worse even if it is a glancing blow off the fender.

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