ninja79 wrote:snip......
2. Lane splitting is *safer* than stopping behind a car in heavy traffic. My coworker's car got hit from behind and totalled. Imagine what would happen to a bike.
It sounds like silentx's mistake is not merging back into the lane when the light turned green.
This is odd. It never happened to me, but then I don't like riding or driving in heavy traffic.
I don't know about the "safer" aspect of lane splitting, but I don't disagree with the practice. I do believe silentx should have more than just a few hours on a m/c before engaging in the practice. As I said, he needs to be more vigilant and experienced in handling his machine in order to avoid or escape dangerous situations.
As for your comment about your coworker getting rear-ended, it happens every day. So before you stop and while you are waiting to go again, keep your eyes peeled, especially on teh traffic behind you. When I stop behind a line of traffic, I am ALWAYS close to the lane line, just for that reason. If someone comes up to my Azz too quickly, I will, and have done so, hammer the throttle and go into lane-splitting mode to get away from being the meat in the sandwich.
And again, silentx's 2nd mistake was not merging as soon as traffic started to move. His 1st was getting into the situation with as little experience as he has.
I hope he's looking foreward to the safety course. They teach quite a bit of good stuff there.