Lane splitting: doing it right

[Totallywasted]

I came across this video on Youtube today, and thought it very nicely sums up why we lane split (or squeeze) in traffic:

 

 

I then wrote this epic long post (by Facebook standards) to share my perspectives on lane splitting as both a rider and a driver; I'd like to know what you all think about what's said in the video, whether other rider-drivers share my conclusion, and if riders agree that the best way to make lane splitting safer for us and more acceptable to drivers is to teach and encourage riders to lane split the right way.

 

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My take on this as both a rider and a driver: lane-splitting (-sharing, or as we call it here: squeezing) is something we need to teach motorcyclists to do PROPERLY. I apologise for the length - for the TL;DR, just skip to the last three paragraphs.

 

From my driving perspective:

 

Every bike that's squeezing past my car in heavy or crawling traffic on the expressway (where you don't change lanes unless you're 1. entering or exiting the e-way, or 2. an impatient *******) is one bike I don't have to worry about hitting or hitting me from the rear. Once I'm cruising in lane (or crawling in start-stop traffic), I'm paying so much attention to the vehicle in front that I barely notice the bikes zipping past my sides.

 

Also, if space between vehicles is the currency of heavy traffic (because that directly translates to less time spent in it), then it doesn't make a lot of sense for a single bike - which typically takes up 1/4 the space of an average-sized car - to hog that space. Only in organised convoys will you find riders optimising space in a lane in traffic, which entails them riding in staggered left-right formation, and still taking more per capita space than a fully-occupied car. Just imagine peak hour traffic with every single bloody motorcyclist taking the centre of the lane like cars do. How much longer do you think your commute would be?

 

From my riding perspective:

 

Because of our typical kiasu Singaporean driving mentality (where leaving enough space between vehicles - even if it's exactly the two-second rule's worth - is an invitation to some ******* to cut in to save a few seconds of his precious, precious time), being stuck behind a car in heavy (particularly stop-start) traffic is not so much a problem of not hitting the vehicle in front as much as it is worrying about the inevitably tailgating moron behind not hitting me.

 

As the video mentions, bikes don't have the sort of protection that cars offer, so what would otherwise be the safest kinds of collisions for cars (directly to the front or rear) would be more dangerous to us riders, for whom the safest falls are lowsides where the bike slides out from under us - assuming we don't hit a railing or lamp post or slide into the path of a truck. The safest way to ride in heavy traffic is therefore to have as few vehicles in front or behind me as possible, and that means splitting lanes.

 

It's really not (so much) about avoiding wasting time being stuck with the rest of traffic. Drivers who begrudge riders for their ability to save time by lane splitting are the same kind of spiteful assholes who think everyone else should share their misery, like that kid back in primary school who would rather throw his bag of chips away than be forced to share them with others.

 

The problem:

 

Lane splitting becomes contentious when drivers find that their attempts to change lanes are thwarted by oblivious riders who don't give way despite spotting the indicators from more than a few cars away; they're very visible to bikers, who see nothing but a corridor of left and right indicator lights when between continuous rows of cars, compared to drivers being barely able to see the vehicles further ahead through the windows of the car in front.

 

Drivers are also further frustrated by riders who cut in front of their vehicles from between lanes, which forces them to brake suddenly (and risk being hit by the tailgating idiot behind) because the bike comes from out of the field of vision (attention still on the car in front, remember; drivers typically don't check their side mirrors when in heavy traffic unless lane changing).

 

Riders likewise face the challenge of anticipating drivers who do sudden lane changes without signalling in advance (very common on our roads), or trying to manoeuvre their way through a particularly tight spot because some idiot doesn't know how to stay in the middle of their lane. Oh, and other riders who hog the split lane, which is the only time that riders aren't able to bypass a hog in the fast lane (and thereby remain calm and happy). But that's really just their problem.

 

What, then, is the solution?

 

Riders need to be taught to exercise the same courtesy and consideration to drivers as they would want from them. When I'm lane splitting, I make it a point to lane change in front of a car the same way I would from an adjacent lane: I signal, ensure that there's sufficient space, check my blind spot, then slowly move in. I also make sure to give way to drivers who indicate that they want to change lanes into a gap that has clearly opened up.

 

Drivers, on the other hand, just need to exercise the caution and consideration that they're supposed to when driving normally. Signal, check blind spots, maintain lane discipline, don't tailgate.

 

It's really that simple. But the real problem is that we have too many entitled assholes that think they own the roads because they paid so damned much for their shiny four wheels, and a seemingly equal number of entitled assholes who think they own the roads because of their ability to go where larger vehicles can't.

[Jehuty]

I just assume all drivers are a-holes, most are not but you can never be too sure, there are also the old or the women so extra careful around them, I'm not trying to be sexist or ageist...I just find their decision making skills to be a hazard to me.