Left-Lane Campers Article

[black roadster]

I Found this interesting.

[SirHustlerEsq]

:werd:

stay out of the hammer lane.

[MadMonkey]

I was rear-ended by a guy who got mad at me for going the speed limit in the right lane, when he had a perfectly good left lane he could have passed me in.



Of course, it might have had something to do with me standing on the brake pedal when he was a foot off my bumper and laying on his horn...

[amdman]

Hmmm me and a friend were talking about this just a month ago. Did you know that Texas law states that the left lane is to be used for passing only, not for continues driving. I personally didn't know this till my friend was pulled over about month ago and was given a warning for doing just that. There was no one behind him and he wasn't even speeding and he was actually going around another car which is why we got on the subject. Was actually funny, but the officer did inform him that it is the law that the left lane is for passing only and not for continues driving.

Also a side note and I found this out by a DOT officer when I was driving trucks. Big Rigs ie: Semi's aren't supose to drive in the left lane for any reason other then passing and as soon as they complete there passing of a vehicle they are to return to the right hand lane as soon as they safely can. You know those signs that read no trucks in left lane for such and such miles. Well actually those signs are right and wrong. There is no actual set miles for the left lane rule on trucks according to DOT laws in Texas. So if you find yourself behind a big rig and he is in the left lane don't take this law to heart please. Understand that he has to be sure he can move over safely before leaving the left lane. He isn't in a car and he doesn't have the perfect view of everything. Now if you find one just staying in the left lane and there is no one to his right side please by all means flash him a few times with your lights and get him out of that left hand lane, you will fine that some truck drivers are left lane pigs and need to be told to move over with those head lights of yours. LOL

Ok well enough said I stay out of that left lane unless I have to use it to pass someone then I am back out of it again. It is just the about safety and being courtious to those that are going faster then I am, but don't expect me to get out of the middle lane just cause you want to go faster then me, you might meet my rear bumper. LOL

[Rogue]

just cause you want to go faster then me, you might meet my rear bumper. LOL

FYI- If you jam the brakes and cause an accident, its road-rage.
OTOH- Never tailgate a car that can out brake you.

Its also illegal for sportbikes to lane split here in Texas.

And the one i find idiotic, that its not inforced.
In Texas, It is legal to pass on the right, but only the first vehicle and he must be stopped and have his signal on.
That is legal in rural areas not in town.

[Miatamaniac92]

FYI- If you jam the brakes and cause an accident, its road-rage.
OTOH- Never tailgate a car that can out brake you.

Its also illegal for sportbikes to lane split here in Texas.

And the one i find idiotic, that its not inforced.
In Texas, It is legal to pass on the right, but only the first vehicle and he must be stopped and have his signal on.
That is legal in rural areas not in town.

I had thought the lane splitting was legalized in ~2005? Hmm

I think that not using your blinker in the correct manner should be enforced.

Chris

[amdman]

FYI- If you jam the brakes and cause an accident, its road-rage.
OTOH- Never tailgate a car that can out brake you.

Its also illegal for sportbikes to lane split here in Texas.

And the one i find idiotic, that its not inforced.
In Texas, It is legal to pass on the right, but only the first vehicle and he must be stopped and have his signal on.
That is legal in rural areas not in town.

That is if you jam on your breaks for no reason but if I have a dog run in front of me sorry but not going to hit a dog.

Oh and I don't need breaks I have down shift powers. LOL

No for the passing on the right, did you know that some of the officers look at that differantly. I actually had an officer say that it is legal to pass on the right side of the road anywhere as long as you do it safely. Now I personally would never do that sorry but was trained to drive with a little more comin since then that. Just try that on a truck driver want to know where you will end up, in the ditch, in the gard rail, in a tree, in your grave. Yep just don't feel like dieing anytime soon. LOL


Oh and lane splitting is not legal you are correct room mates dad rides motorcycles as well and he actually hates that law cause he got use to doing it in Cali. when he was there for work. I personally think, you go between me and another car on your bike, well be ready to be introduced to my door or my front fender oops saw another dog not going to hit a dog. LOL

[trickyrix]

Why can't/don't we teach road manners in driver's ed?

Lane splitting freaks me out every time I'm in LA.

I'd also love to see little things like speed limits, rolling red lights, and proper turn signal use somehow enforced on our law enforcement community, not just us peons.

[amdman]

That I do agree with. I use my signals all the time and properly. Middle finger here middle finger there. LOL No really I do use my turn signals all the time and it is very annoying when people don't.

Oh and I would never bring harm to anyone that was all in kidding around. I just don't think lane splitting is safe what so ever, and I even find it rude actually. If I have to wait in line with traffic so should those on bikes as well.

[Rogue]

Take a ride!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cQvcZlo2yo

[amdman]

Yap saw me opening up my door it was all over with. Sorry I had my arm hanging out the window and dropped my Pepsi bottle. Had to stop and pick it up I love my Pepsie, and I really didn't see the guy on motorcycle, must be because I was trained that you don't do that if you want to live.


Or


Yap darn dog ran out in the road and I swerved to avoid hitting him sorry officer didn't see the guy on the bike when the dog ran out in front of me. Sorry I refuse to hit a dog if I don't have to. Aren't there leash laws officer.

[Miatamaniac92]

Yap saw me opening up my door it was all over with. Sorry I had my arm hanging out the window and dropped my Pepsi bottle. Had to stop and pick it up I love my Pepsie, and I really didn't see the guy on motorcycle, must be because I was trained that you don't do that if you want to live.


Or


Yap darn dog ran out in the road and I swerved to avoid hitting him sorry officer didn't see the guy on the bike when the dog ran out in front of me. Sorry I refuse to hit a dog if I don't have to. Aren't there leash laws officer.

That's pretty shitty. I've lane-split before, previously thinking it was legal (still researching). Motorcycle/scooters/bicycles have less of a traffic foot print. They(we) make a sacrifice (in more than one aspect; safety, comfort, capacity) and should be more free to filter through traffic in a safe manner. Having so many cars on the road is what causes traffic jams.

Imagine for a second, if all of those cars surrounding you were motorcycles instead of cars. The traffic would not be as bad.

To take the opinion, that filtering through traffic is some form of cheating, is one-sided. Give me a break.

To say that you would intentionally cause an accident is crazy, regardless of the reason. I truly hope that you're just trying to make a point, and not serious. Or, that it is just a day dream to see people breaking the rules get just deserts. Maybe you are.

Chris

[Nails]

+1

If you only had bikes on the road, capacity would triple, smog would be much lower, and there would be less road rage. You can run 3 bikes in the space of an SUV and there would be less idling in traffic jams and people aren't so brave without doors to lock and windows to roll up. Also, more parking spaces too.

[Titus]

I lived with lane-splitting for years in California and prey that it never ever finds it's way to Texas. Imagine for a moment that you are sitting in rush hour traffic lucky to be moving at 10 mph and patiently waiting for someone to notice your blinker too let you change lanes. Just as a spot big enough for your car opens up and you go to step on the gas to dart over before the gap closes, a lane-splitting bike appears out of no where and shoots past you at 40 mph. I had this happen on more than one occasion, nearly having a heart attack as my car weaved back and bucked to a near stop to avoid the bike. How people that lane split every day as part of their daily commute manage to survive boggles my mind.

[trickyrix]

That's pretty shitty. I've lane-split before, previously thinking it was legal (still researching). Motorcycle/scooters/bicycles have less of a traffic foot print. They(we) make a sacrifice (in more than one aspect; safety, comfort, capacity) and should be more free to filter through traffic in a safe manner. Having so many cars on the road is what causes traffic jams.

I'm sorry, but IMHO, lane-splitting is just inherently unsafe. Sure, you can say that the guy on the bike gives up the most (safety-wise, I'm sure he does), but what about the risk to all the property (and people) around him? How many fender benders (or worse) are a result of lane-splitting? What about the douche ripping between stopped/crawling rush hour lanes at 40 mph? I've seen it enough to make me cuss those assholes. Surely they're not the norm. You think lane-splitting doesn't jack up everybody's insurance and generally create an adversarial relationship between bikes and cars on the road? To me, it's hypocritical to call for equality on the road and then ask for extra-special exceptions.

Something to think about before you put the onus back on mean ol' car drivers.

[TurboDuane]

That's pretty shitty. I've lane-split before, previously thinking it was legal (still researching). Motorcycle/scooters/bicycles have less of a traffic foot print. They(we) make a sacrifice (in more than one aspect; safety, comfort, capacity) and should be more free to filter through traffic in a safe manner. Having so many cars on the road is what causes traffic jams.

Imagine for a second, if all of those cars surrounding you were motorcycles instead of cars. The traffic would not be as bad.

To take the opinion, that filtering through traffic is some form of cheating, is one-sided. Give me a break.

To say that you would intentionally cause an accident is crazy, regardless of the reason. I truly hope that you're just trying to make a point, and not serious. Or, that it is just a day dream to see people breaking the rules get just deserts. Maybe you are.

Chris

Lane Splitting in Cali is only legal in traffic jams when the traffic is nearly stopped, and must be done so in a safe mannor. However those zipping by at 30+ mph faster than the car traffic is dangerous for all, not just the biker and isn't considered safe. Bikers in-general, push the limits thus the problem with lane-splitting. If made legal here in Texas, the legal boundries will be pushed as it is in Cali.

[amdman]

That's pretty shitty. I've lane-split before, previously thinking it was legal (still researching). Motorcycle/scooters/bicycles have less of a traffic foot print. They(we) make a sacrifice (in more than one aspect; safety, comfort, capacity) and should be more free to filter through traffic in a safe manner. Having so many cars on the road is what causes traffic jams.

Imagine for a second, if all of those cars surrounding you were motorcycles instead of cars. The traffic would not be as bad.

To take the opinion, that filtering through traffic is some form of cheating, is one-sided. Give me a break.

To say that you would intentionally cause an accident is crazy, regardless of the reason. I truly hope that you're just trying to make a point, and not serious. Or, that it is just a day dream to see people breaking the rules get just deserts. Maybe you are.

Chris

Actually if you read my other post prior to that one I said I was only kidding about that stuff and would never consider putting someone in harms way. Sorry you took it so bad and personal. Once again to anyone else that read my post about opening a door or swurving to miss a dog, it was totally a joke and I would never do that to anyone on purpose. As I said my room-mates dad rides bikes all the time and does charity runs and I respect him and all those out there that ride them too much to do something that mean and possable life threatening.

Now I still say it isn't safe for people to be lane splitting for many reasons and one big one is that you don't know what that car is going to do that you are going by like that. If you do it, please be careful and remember it isn't legal in Texas.

[Miatamaniac92]

Actually if you read my other post prior to that one I said I was only kidding about that stuff and would never consider putting someone in harms way. Sorry you took it so bad and personal. Once again to anyone else that read my post about opening a door or swurving to miss a dog, it was totally a joke and I would never do that to anyone on purpose. As I said my room-mates dad rides bikes all the time and does charity runs and I respect him and all those out there that ride them too much to do something that mean and possable life threatening.

Now I still say it isn't safe for people to be lane splitting for many reasons and one big one is that you don't know what that car is going to do that you are going by like that. If you do it, please be careful and remember it isn't legal in Texas.

Understood. Glad you were just kidding.

Chris

[altiain]

+1

If you only had bikes on the road, capacity would triple, smog would be much lower, and there would be less road rage.

I won't argue with capacity or road rage, but you're absolutely, completely, 100% wrong on the smog issue. Motorcycles are not held to the same emissions requirements as cars. In fact, current EPA emissions regulations for motorcycles do not impose a hydrocarbon emission limit on motorcycles at all.

A typical motorcycle emits between .32-.20 grams/mile of hydrocarbons. By comparison, a SULEV Prius emits .0024 grams/mile of hydrocarbons.

In layman's terms, that means that the average motorcycle emits roughly 100 times the amount of hydrocarbon emissions per mile of a SULEV vehicle. The reality is that a motorcycle is actually more harmful to the environment in terms of emissions than a full-size SUV. Quoting from the above linked EPA standard:

The current federal motorcycle standard for hydrocarbon emissions is about 90 times higher than the hydrocarbon standard for today’s passenger cars. Although many of today’s motorcycles will meet the current California standards, the current California hydrocarbon standard is still 18 to 24 times greater than the current federal passenger car limits, depending on the displacement of the motorcycle engine.

Ironically, even the heavy mining equipment that I engineer for a living is held to stricter hydrocarbon emissions standards than on-highway motorcycles. Don't fool yourself into thinking that riding a motorcycle is better for the environment. It may be more fuel efficient, but that is only part of the environmental impact.

[Majik]

I could tell that by driving behind a motorcycle. It just smells like it puts out more stinky pollution. Its sort of like driving behind the riced 92 civic with the carbon coated rear bumper, that you can tell has the cat removed.