Lane splitting, legal or not?

[z900/zx9]

I have always lane split mind you it was at a faster speed till i hit my 3rd car mmm so these days its in first gear at about 20ks and plenty of reving and noise making in the process AFTERMARKET PIPES DO SAVE LIVES

[RG]

So is it legally illegal or illegally legal?

[Rossi]

So is it legally illegal or illegally legal?

Well..............
it's on par with speeding

[aardvark]

I get funny looks from cage drivers when I lane split on the work bike.

[Barrabob]

I always thought of it as a bit of a dodgy practice on trafic that had enough room to try to change lanes because you cant read their minds and if they said i didnt se you i wouldnt blame them as i have been blasting up a lane that doesnt exist so on the mobile stuff doing 15 to 20 kph use a lot of cation.

I dont have a problem with the stationary stuff but wouldnt do it if there was a cop car up the que a bit.

you really have to watch your head checks at lights though to make sure the stuff heading at the red lights has all stopped because sometimes they dont and being tboned by a car running a redlight is bad for your health.

[stevew_zzr]

I used to be pretty ignorant of the whole lane-splitting thing, i didn't ride around in traffic much and i didn't think it was necessary.

But after i ONCE got stuck at the light for 15 minutes, in my full leathers, on a warm day... i decided that maybe it wasn't such a bad to just skip to the front Heat coming up off the radiator, exhaust fumes and no air con and being a damn sweaty bastard adds up to one uncomfortable situation.

I think that it should be okay to 'lane-split' as long as you do it on the right, and the traffic is stationary. If you've got cars to your right, then you never know if a passenger is going to jump ship into you. Of course, sometimes i'll take a risk and just go up the middle.

[smek]

robsalvv is spot on. I commute 6 days a week and split and filter my way through traffic for at least half of the 35 minute ride.
If the traffic is really backed up you are safer than if it's spread a bit. be very wary of gaps. you can generally pick the impatient drivers and if someone is moving their head around and not just looking straight ahead it tends to mean they are wanting to change lanes.
If someone indicates hold behind them and wave them across, be thankfull they are actually taking some care.

In the end it's not the safest practice around and everyone makes their own choices as to whether they accept the risks.

I get funny looks from cage drivers when I lane split on the work bike.

I wish the copper did that on Friday we had a group ride going (not official, just a bunch of people trying to get to work), got up to about 10 bikes riding in formation behind him after splitting our way up to him.

[mick_dundee]

Isn't there a push by an ACT group for them to define lane-splitting as going between moving cars which they think should be illegal, and lane-filtering as moving between stationary cars at intersections which they think should be allowed?

now that is sensible......

Which is VERY rare when it concerns motorcycles. I reckon the biggest obstacle motorcyclists face is people that know SFA about motorcycles make the laws we have to live by, it's f'n stupid.

When the MRA makes a logical submission, such as 50cc scooters on a car license to reduce congestion, we get ignored, it's fucking painful, scuse the French.

[aardvark]

such as 50cc scooters on a car license to reduce congestion

That's the way it is here. And it hasn't.

[bonester]

I see this as my personal invitation to lane split.......

Overtaking to the left
A driver may now overtake to the left of a vehicle if the vehicle is stationary and can be safely overtaken to the left. For example, a driver wanting to turn left at a set of traffic lights may overtake to the left a line of traffic waiting to proceed straight through the intersection, provided it is safe to do so.

http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/qt/LTAS ... les_update

[mick_dundee]

yeh man lane splitting should be alright but the other one not to sure about, im from NSW and the traffic here is the worst i always think abt going through the cars during stopped traffic at a red light but not sure weather not its safe.

Personally I think it's safer to split stationary traffic than moving traffic, don't see how it could not be. The safest way to do it is just do it slowly, filter thourgh, pull up a pew in front of the car in front of you, when light turns green you ride off into the sunset.

I ride a ZZR600, they have the worlds best mirrors for this sort of thing, it comes in two modes, mirrors out = ZZR600 Sports Tourer, Mirrors tucked in against the screen = Hoddle st massacre mode*




*So named due to a) a certian shooting that happened at same stree and b) it's probably Melbourne's busiest street and always full.

[Nanna10r]

Good post this one, the blokes on the Gold 9's have the right idea.

My opinon has mutated over the years so I dont have any advice on the subject per say. It's a trap for the newbies so be careful out there guys.

My decision is based on My experiences.... which include...

Being chewed a new one by an off duty cop for "brake checking" him after sitting behind him in the right hand lane for 10ks waiting for him to "Stay Left unless overtaking". He said (clean version) pass on the left n stay calm you idiot.

After realizing commuting was highspeed chess when even a pawn could "check mate" me.

Watching "Ghostrider" about a dozen times & being gob smacked.

I give a little wave "thanks" to anyone that helps me out in traffic Or that i may of slighted in any way.

I ride 3 different bikes on one of the worst commutes (ippie motorway goodna & logan motorway merge) in Queensland. I do different things on each of the 3 scoots to keep me "in the game" (touch wood).

cheers Brett

[mike-s]

hehe, it was a bloodbath getting to work this morning. Stupid trucks breaking down caused a massive backlog going along king georges road. I had to go into hoddle st massacre mode two or three times (hey two people even moved out of my way!!) within the one 4km stretch (which took 10 mins to negotiate even when aggressively spliting my way thru).

God i love sydney traffic, i would sooner take the bike & get soaked than contend with summer traffic in the car.

[edit: with the pipe im DEFINATELY getting noticed more, woo, paying for itself already!]

[kellz]

as a new rider, i have only l;ane split once or twice and the time that i did lane split i followed an experienced rider and the reason we did it was it was at the end of a big ride, starting to rain ( didnt take teh wet weather gear out, silly mistake) and the traffice was backed up for k's on the kiama bypass.

but i must say having a loud exhaust does help get you noticed, and annoys ppl when you sit next to them in the traffic.

i dont have a problem with lane-splittin in stationary traffic, but there isnt much need for it in wollongong.

[Cougar :)]

I have been so screwed. It's illegal in New Zealand, so I thought it was here.

There was a law over there that those green bike/bus lanes were okay to ride in. I had a letter from a politician stating its okay to use them. However...after I was fined for doing it....I called the road traffic authority and after the 6th phone call I found out it was okay in local council laws, but different councils have different laws and even though I was in a council that allowed it, I was on "Crown land" bascially on a highway.

So all this time in Oz I've lane split (commuter and weekend rider) I have the fear of the cops and the Catholic guilt.....still do it though. But most times I ride in the "bike" lane on congested roads because thats where the bigger gap is. If I ever saw a cop I would stop....so now I'll filter on the right side and be much happier about it. Generally I'm a stopped car filterer, so I guess that's okay.