Total Motorcycle Community Forums

ninja79 wrote:
Bullshit.

1. Lane spl....

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..

+1

I actually read that some where.. Statistic stuff.. they had done studies in CA ( only State that lane spliting is leagal) and found that its slightly ( not alot ) safer...

but I thinks it depends on a lot of other factors too ( Traffic, Traffic speed, your speed etc)

Well, 23.. I guess when I was that old I thought I was old too. I often wondered if I would make it to 35. But yes, at 23 you aren't even 1/2 my age, and I've been riding for more than twice the number of years you have been alive, including the time while you were just a twinkle in your Dad's eye.

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.

ArcticHarleyMan wrote:
I hope he's looking foreward to the safety course. They teach quite a bit of good stuff there.

YEP YEP NEXT week, THURSday is the course day.. Finally.. What a wating that was.. LOL

Lane splitting sounds like a good way to get squeezed out and summarily "messed".

Sevulturus wrote:Lane splitting sounds like a good way to get squeezed out and summarily "messed".

which is worse?

getting squeezed from... left and right? or front and back?

i think i'll take getting side-swiped over being rear-ended.

No offense dude, but you come off as a lot younger than 23. I would have guessed 17-18 based on your posts.

Lane splitting isn't too dangerous if you know how and when to do it. It is not always alright to lane-split, even if it is legal.

Also, now that I know you have only been riding for 10 days, I 100% stand by my previous opinion that you should not upgrade to a bigger bike for some time. Stick with your 250 for at least a couple months.

If the same situation had happened as today and you were on a much more powerful bike, with your inexperience, it is likely you could have dumped it (lofted the front end, lost traction in the rear, or just smashed into something). Do yourself a favor and stick with the 250, it won't get you in nearly as much trouble.

DivideOverflow wrote:No offense dude, but you come off as a lot younger than 23. I would have guessed 17-18 based on your posts..

LOL... What did I say to make you think I was 17?


may be I was a bit sleepy.....

See its not a very good Idea to look someones posts and judge the age... U can be,,, Pretty wrong....

by the way I feel bad about my posts now.. I wanna go aback and revise all of them.. get rid of all the childish stuff I said.

qwerty wrote:Yes, there is a safer way. Don't split lanes. Lane splitters and shoulder runners annoy me, and I have this autonomous reaction that jerks the wheel towards whichever outside mirror the jerk happens to be in. Lane splitting and shoulder running are illegal, so guess who will be held at fault should one of them hit me. By the way, my daily driver is a full-size Bronco with step bumpers, brush guard, and a Category III hitch receiver. If you can't stop, smile as you go under.

Not everywhere. If I had time I'd try to take your wing mirror with me.

DivideOverflow wrote:Lane splitting isn't too dangerous if you know how and when to do it. It is not always alright to lane-split, even if it is legal.

I agree. There are times that I will not lane split because it's the traffic isn't right for it, conditions on the roads aren't good or even that I am just plain not riding at my best.

The thing about fear is it tells you when you are about to go too far. Fear is THE survival mechanism. I guess the difference between how I was at 23 and how I am at 33 is I don't heal as fast but my risk assesment means I don't have to heal anywhere near as often.

The Crimson Rider® wrote:

Sevulturus wrote:Lane splitting sounds like a good way to get squeezed out and summarily "messed".

which is worse?

getting squeezed from... left and right? or front and back?

i think i'll take getting side-swiped over being rear-ended.

I'd rather get hit from behind. Worst case you go flying forwards over the handlebars potentially... but not likely to shatter your femur as you're moving from a stop. It's also possible, maybe even likely you will end up under the car... depends upon the vehicle height and the bike type plus it's construction.

Alternately you can get squeezed between two vehicles or get sideswiped, or go into someones front end as they pull in front of you.

Case one, you probably just had both of your legs crushed into the frame

Case two, you just had one leg crushed into the frame, and you're sliding down the road with potentially the other leg under your bike (as you're not travelling overly quickly)

Case three, you just shattered both femurs as they slammed into your clip ons as you summersaulted over the hood of whatever car just got his front end into your path.

Any time you put yourself in a position where there is little room to manevour/little clearance you are asking to get messed up. Especially when your only way out (going forwards) can be blocked very easily.