splitting lanes

in canada splitting lanes is against the law , even if it was i wouldnt do it .

 

First off, I'm glad you're OK. I live in L.A. and will only split lanes when traffic is at a dead stop, like to get to the front of the line at a light. I still remember my MSF class in 1982 when I started to ride. Rule # 1 was "Protect your lane" which involves keeping a space cushion, etc. Well, when you lane-split, guess what ? You don't have a lane! I would much rather leave a bit earlier and ride with that nice cushion of space around me. I work the lane to assure I'm in the mirrors of the guy up front and I have room to swerve around crap in the road. Call me a wuss if you like, and many will, but to me, lane splitting through solid moving traffic on LA freeways is simply an unnecessary risk and we take enough risks already. Oh, and although it is legal to lane-split, there is absolutely no requirement for cars to yield to you. They have a right to their lane just like you do, if you have a lane, that is. By this logic, the accident was your fault since you were encroaching on their lanes just like a car who comes into your lane and hits you. No difference. I don't mean to sound harsh, but I wouldn't have taken the time to post if I didn't care about your well-being.

Mike

 

The problem you MAY face is that even if your not doing anything illegal, some lawyer may find a loophole. In court, its impossible to prove that your NOT at fault if you hit someone from behind.

In the end, the insurance should take care of everything. I really do hope that you took photo's of the lady's damage. I cant tell you how many friends (cagers) have hit or been hit by a car, and the other person racks up HUGE insurance requests about damage that simply was not there! Ultimately, in any collision, follow the #1 rule. CYA. Cover your Arse!!!!

Glad your OK. I split also, but try not to do it if cars are moving, and I keep an eye for gaps or cell phone users. Dont let this discourage you. Get right back on the horse.

 

Put yourself in her position: driving your car, minding your own business and along comes her, intentionally in your blind spot, in your lane, and hits you. Pay up. You knew the risk.

 

Attack

IHO, I would attack, its the best thing to do. Turn it into your insurance company as if she caused the problem. Attacking is the best offense and really you have nothing to loose.

Glad your okay. Being from the midwest we can't split lanes, which is a good thing because I do think it is dangerous, but if I live in CA, I would most likely lane split.

Attack, attack, attack, not your fault.

Bright Side

 

your big mistake was to not insist the cop write it up. you don't have to be a jerk about it. "listen, officer, it would be great if you could write it up. can you please do that for us?"

it GREATLY simplifies things.

 

I think you're right. At first I was glad he didn't do it, but now I think it would've been helpful for my case.

Bill, I didn't come up and hit her, as you say. I landed on her fender, 'cause she sandwiched me.

I do realize that splitting is a risk of the rider, and it's dangerous, so I'm not trying to get out of my part here. I just don't think I should have to pay up the whole amount of her repairs. I'm willing to go 50/50.

PLUS, who's to say that the two cars wouldn't have collided if I hadn't come along?

:???:

 

No report by the police so how does the insurance know it ever happened?

It seems like you had two people who were not paying attention. It's not their job to watch out for you. But if the are moving close enough to each other to squish a VStrom between them I have to wonder what they were doing because it was not driving.

I had a guy jump in front of me about a year ago. I locked the front brakes, turned the bike and high sided at about 20 mph. I was close enough to the back of his truck where the two other cars that pulled over thought I hit the truck. The CHP said it was my fault for splitting. The CHP officers reasoning was he has ridden for 30 years and does not lane split so I should not either. Even after the witnesses said the truck cut into the lane without signaling. It took me a few weeks to get back into the groove of lane splitting. I realized that when splitting you have very little control of the cars right in front of you and all you can do is do you best to anticipate.

If you can try to follow a CHP going at a speed a bit faster then your normal rate. After they have opened up a path for you the cars are looking a bit more and you can watch how the "pros" split lanes.

 

If you can try to follow a CHP going at a speed a bit faster then your normal rate. After they have opened up a path for you the cars are looking a bit more and you can watch how the "pros" split lanes.

I tried keeping up with two CHP motor cops. They were going a LOT faster than I felt comfortable trying. If I had more experience I would have love to take advantage of the Moses Effect.

 

I personally don't split lanes except for traffic signal lines and then only when there is a lot of room.

From my perspective you are at fault. Even if both drivers were moving towards each other they were still each in their respective lanes. Therefore they are in no way causing any harm. You hit her car and your insurance should pay for the damage. End of story.

 

Let's say you were both in your own lanes (no splitting going on), but you were close to the line on her side. You both came to a stop. You lost your balance and your bike went into her car. Where's the responsibility?

Unless she hit you or in some way prevented you from gaining your balance, I think you're going to have a tough time pinning any responsibility on her. I hope you got the cop's name so you can get a no-fault statement from him. But really, I hope she just decides to drop it.

 

Thanks

Thanks guys for the opinions and input. Whether we agree on the practice of lane-splitting or not, or agree on fault or not, I appreciate you all telling me your thoughts and being straight with me.

Hope to see you out there sometime, and for those of you going to Long Beach this weekend, have a great time.

:-D

 

My lawyer says to RUN, not walk to a police station and file a report. He feels that "First one wins." They will usually try and dissuade you. YMMV but try and get something written up. Letting your insurance company know seems prudent under the circumstances.

 

Call your insurance company and tell them what happened then forget about it. That's why you have insurance. With no police report nothing happened (IMHO).

This is a non-issue in my opinion.

 

Thanks Roger, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

 

Enough; this thread has run it's course

Hi Bill,

I think you misunderstood what I was really asking for.
Not lessons in manhood or adulthood, I'm fine there, thanks.
Not sympathy either, or how to avoid responsibility.

Posting here was my way of finding a concensus on the matter. I ALWAYS accept responsibility for my actions, and since you know nothing about me, how can you suggest otherwise?

I was asking for people's takes, and they gave them, so I said thanks. Can we go on from here without anymore attempts at demeaning the questioner?

I haven't agreed with all the posters here (even some that have favored my side), but most have been cool about it and been civil. You are crossing lines by attacking my manhood. If you can't make your point without doing that, then please keep your words to yourself. Saying that, I hope to communicate with you on other threads under better circumstances (since neither of us are likely going anywhere), so let's move on.

-----------------------

Again, thanks to everyone for your replies. I think I've gotten enough feedback on this right now. See ya 'round.

 

good post, mark.

 

...the cop told me I was in my right to split and it didn't sound like I was at fault any more than the cars.

The cop said he couldn't find enough evidence to blame anyone more than 50-50, so he didn't even write it up.

There is your answer, straight from a third party who is experienced in this kind of thing. Why the heck would you want to admit total responsibility for this incident after a cop clearly said otherwise?

You were doing something legal and it sounds like even though you hit the car, the driver caused the accident in the first place. Just because a rider was lane splitting shouldn't mean the rider was automatically the cause of the accident. I would expect this kind of bias from non-motorcyclists, but not from other riders on this forum, which is a bit distressing to be honest.

Glad to hear you are ok, just think about what could have happened if you were not lane splitting and an inattentive driver sandwiched you from behind into the car in front. I always feel safer between cars than between bumpers.

 

There is your answer, straight from a third party who is experienced in this kind of thing. Why the heck would you want to admit total responsibility for this incident after a cop clearly said otherwise?

This is tricky. Even though LEO's are law enforcement officers, not all of them know the letter of the law 100%. They are drilled in the basics and have a code book that makes a dictionary look thin they must memorize, but that does not mean his opinion is the law. His opinion may be that the motorcycle was in the right, but that does not mean that its the law.

Lane splitting or sort of a double edge sword. Yes, in some ways its legal here in California, and no cops will pull you over for doing it, but there are loopholes and regulates that may counter the law, or lawyers can exploit to turn it into something illegal. Like lane changes. To pass the split lines, you need to signal. Though the corse of lane splitting, motorcyclist's may cross lanes many many times without signaling. ITs a grey area. Also, there are rules. 15MPH above traffic speed, and only between the #1 or #2 lane. Also, the point of that 15MPH rule is to make sure your not going too fast to stop in time.

Like I said in my 1st post, its IMPOSSIBLE to prove your NOT at fault if you hit someone from behind. Why? Because #1, you should of been aware of everything in front of you, and #2, you should of given yourself enough room to stop. Now, splitting is a grey area. How can you leave enough room to stop when your BETWEEN cars?

As for safety of lane splitting, I remember seeing a study that freeway accedents and fatalities LOWERED once California started allowing it. Why? Everyone in LA knows how many fender benders happen in heavy traffic. Stupid cagers putting on makeup, eating, cellphones, you name it. Traffic stops in front, they dont see it, and they hit the guy in front of them. If these people cant see a CAR in front of them, then they cant see a motorcycle. Two crashing cars with a motorcycle between them is not a good thing for us. Following the rules of lane splitting, if anything happens, its minor due too the low speeds (15MPH above traffic).

Im not saying people SHOULD lane split. Im saying that its the motorcyclist's option, and I have not seen any study saying that its MORE risky then waiting between two cagers.

 

Smart people learn from there errors. Brilliant people learn from other peoples errors.

 

I've hit mirrors during lane splitting when cars pulled in and squeezed me. Do I stop? No. Why? Because it's more likely to cause an accident. Especially in heavy traffic.

Personally, if I would've been sandwiched between 2 cars. I would've jumped back on my bike and left. It's a no-fault situation. That's why we have insurance.

 

one thing that hasn't been mentioned: you should not be overtaking vehicles so fast that you don't have time to stop, if it looks like you'll be pinched. my rule of thumb is i try never to overtake the slowest vehicle by more than 5-10 mph. that way you can stop/slow down and bide your time until a gap reappears ... as it always does.

if you DO get pinched, and you damage a car as a result, it is a very bad idea to just ride away. i'm pretty sure that automatically qualifies you for a "hit and run," which automatically makes you the bad guy. if the other party jots down your license plate, you will soon enough get a visit from the law. it won't be pretty. and it's not an insurance issue.

 

Gary,

That's just it, no way it can be a "hit and run" The situation in question is it was BOTH cars that ran into the bike. Even the LEO said it's no fault, so I seriously doubt the cops would do anything if there is no injury involved. Case in point. My daughter was involved in a accident with her baby sister in the car. They were rear ended by a Mexican guy. He got out, looked at his car and then took off! Hit and run right? Wrong. Long story short. I was able to trace this guy to his workplace because he had a uniform on. Called the cops, they came to his work, talked to him, talked to me and my wife. Then guess what? Guy was illegal, no ticket, no car towed away. NOTHING HAPPENED. Why? Because he didn't speak english very well and didn't "understand" the law! So with such a minor accident on a bike I would stop, check the people are OK and get back on my bike.