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[M@2015DS]

I ride my Zero DS about 25 miles each way to work.

My route involves taking the 405 freeway for about 20 of those miles.

The 405 freeway is one of the busiest freeways in the world. Especially in West Los Angeles where I ride.

Now, I don't have a beef with lane splitting. I actually lane split when traffic gets under 35-40 mph.

I have a beef with these bikers that are going way to fast when they are splitting. Guys who split when traffic is going 70mph! Riders that split going 50 when traffic is going 15. Just plain stupid and rolling the dice. Eventually, a car is going to change lanes and there is no chance to avoid a wreck. In these cases I can't blame anyone but the motorcyclist. Bike appears from nowhere at those speeds.

Fortunately in California it is actually legal to split but these few idiots are going to make lawmakers think twice about this.

In the last week I rode by 3 different wrecks that involved a motorcyclist that was splitting. A wreck between the carpool lane and the passing lane results in tens of thousands of people sitting on the freeway for an extra half hour or more just to go 3 or 4 miles.

Eventually people are going to get fed up with this. I actually do not usually see any other electric bikes. Most of the offenders are on sport bikes but sometimes I actually see big cruisers doing it too. Nuts.

Not sure if anyone else here has seen this going on or has any thoughts on this. Sorry about the long post. I hate to see fellow bikers go down and do not want to lose the privilege of lane splitting because of a few yahoos getting their jollies out on a packed freeway.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

LA sounds crazier than the Bay Area where I am. I see a broader mixture of riding styles, and generally the riders follow the CHP guidelines. I don't feel like lane-splitting is threatened as long as traffic is really sluggish, which it certainly has been.

[Richard230]

My SF Bay Area experience has been more like what you are experiencing in LA.  I continuously see riders on Highway 101 between SF and San Jose splitting lanes at 80 mph, when the traffic is moving at 65 and doing about 40 or 50 when the traffic is stopped. It is like a video game and these motorcycle commuters appear to have no fear of crashing or of someone changing lanes as the pass by.  I listen to traffic reports on the radio every morning and it seems like every 30 minutes there is a report of a motorcycle crash holding up traffic for miles.  The warmer the weather, the more crashes.  When riding on the freeway in heavy traffic I always need to check my rear view mirrors continuously, as getting passed by a rider doing 30 mph more than you are is pretty scary when you are not expecting it. 

Finally, I might add that auto drivers seem to be getting the message about lane splitting, too.  Lately, I have been getting passed in my lane, while riding my motorcycle, by autos and pickup trucks, if I attempt to leave a 2 or 3-second space between the vehicle ahead of me.  I guess they feel that "what is good for the goose is good for the gander"    As traffic congestion and driving times to and from work become worse, the frustration appears to be reaching the boiling point.  Be careful out there.   

[Doug S]

I was at Major's Diner in Pine Valley on my group ride a while back, when a guy came up and excitedly asked if I was the guy with the electric motorcycle. I said yes, it was mine. He said he passed me pretty much every day on the morning commute from east county into San Diego. "Oh, that's cool," I said, while inwardly thinking, "so you're one of those idiots living on borrowed time".

I have a little bit of an issue with the standard guidelines; most bikes don't handle very precisely below 20 mph or so, so I do like to carry a bit more speed than they recommend, so the steering geometry works properly. But yeah, I get passed ALL THE TIME by people going far faster than feels safe to me. OTOH, only once has a rider gone by me, and then I rode by her a bit later, picking her bike up off the road. Seems like most of them get away with it most of the time.

[f3flight]

In Moscow (Russia) I usually work my way between lanes at up to 45km/h (27 mph), which is around max of the "1st gear" on my ZEV LRC 10. And even then I build this speed only when cars leave a really wide path (can happen between the leftmost lane and the next). Sometimes I join a chain of bikers, but if they go above 45 then I keep my 45 and do not rush. I think chaining is the safest way to move between lanes, as long as the head is not too fast and does not zigzag between lanes (I hope you understand what I mean). Another "advantage" of chaining is that many bikers would "roar" their engines to ask car drivers to move a bit, while I only have a loud horn which is not very nice to use in traffic If I'm alone or I'm leading I usually just wait if the path is too tight. I guess this makes me a bad lead, huh?

[MichaelJohn]

Another SF Bay Area rider here and I have to pretty much agree with what Richard said. My commute is between Oakland and Walnut Creek which means I am on Highway 24 every day. I have a company car so I don't commute by motorcycle but I wouldn't anyway. I do ride in on weekends sometimes but that is a light traffic pleasure cruise. As Richard said, I hear way too many traffic reports involving motorcycle accidents during the commute. I see guys every day splitting at amazing speed differentials and weaving from lane to lane to do it. The worst is when it happens in the Caldecott tunnel which has 4 bores, three of which are old and narrow. I wouldn't dream of splitting there but I am cautious on the freeway anyway. I had one guy on a sport bike come up from behind and he was revving his engine as a signal for everyone to part the Red Sea for him. I hadn't seen him coming so the first time he revved his extremely loud bike in the small two-lane tunnel close behind me it scared the holy s*** out of me. It reverberated off the tunnel walls like a bomb explosion and I felt the sound waves. After the fear went away I got angry at the selfish jerk. I'm sure that I wasn't the only one in the tunnel that day who got scared/pissed off and that's exactly what we DON'T need as motorcyclists. I also hope that we don't lose our unique status as the only lane-splitting state due to a few crazies but it could happen. There has been talk about lane-splitting legislation in the news recently.

[Richard230]

Great comments MichaelJohn.  I to am concerned, not only about me being the next guy that splits lanes responsibility after the fellow ahead of me stirs up the hornets nest, but I have been concerned for years that sooner or later the state legislature will make lane splitting illegal just to make motorcycle riders have to wait in traffic just like everyone else does.    Keep in mind that motorcycle riders do not fund their re-election campaigns or otherwise grease legislative palms. So what is the downside of screwing us over - especially when we do it to ourselves?