Lane Splitting - Do you do it ? Ever been caught and charged by Police? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Lane Splitting - Do you do it ? Ever been caught and charged by Police?

R

Rascal

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Curious about the general GTA vibe on Lane splitting

I have very rarely done it during my many years of driving in Canada, but after the last 2 seasons in Europe my thinking has changed greatly...

Summer 2014 over there, I was a typical Canadian on my motorbike haha almost saying "Sorry ! Sorry" and driving like Miss Daisy haha.. but I quickly got with the Euro flow where you basically "drive it like you stole it" and weave in and out of traffic, bus lanes, etc freely.

Where I was living in Poland they even have Traffic signs everywhere with a Motorcycle splitting 2 lanes of cars. "Share the road" or something similar written.

As you split through cars, many of them actually pull over in their lanes to let you by. a Nice courtesy.

Test driving a bike this balmy December back in Canada, I couldn't help but split :)

Do you guys do it? Have you ever gotten a ticket for it? I believe it is illegal in Ontario. Any other countries you have driven in with splitting?
 
Got caught filtering to the front at red lights and got a warning...if they want they can charge you for stunting.

One time I was on the 403 in bumper to bumper traffic in full gear. I lane split a good distance and caught up with a Harley, he asked about the legality and I just said I don't really care...He chose to follow me and sure enough a police cruiser is getting on to the highway and lights us up. Being on a 250 I made some quick nimble lane changes and got out of there. Harley was a slow pig and got caught...I'm sure the popo answered all his questions :lmao:
 
I used to, then i got caught by a unmarked police car. I try not to anymore mostly because my work changed location and I am no longer in traffic and it isn't worth the hassle to get stopped by a cop in a bad mood (In my case the guy gave me a ticket and told me to go to court as he was too busy to show up and I would get off and that was the case)

So if you are going to do it realize you are eventually getting caught.
 
stunting? wow that seems pretty extreme. While I do practice it in Europe I still think there are limits… I don't mind doing it when traffic is stopped but when it rolls again, I turn back into lane. Some of the euro guys are pretty hardcore though and will lane split with faster moving traffic 40km/h + !
 
If you are having a bad day, you can get "street racing" for splitting and they take your bike (and a few thousand $)

California does the smart thing, you are allowed to split but I think you can only be going 15mph faster than traffic. Nobody is expecting someone to come flying up beside them.
 
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Rascal said:
stunting? wow that seems pretty extreme. While I do practice it in Europe I still think there are limits… I don't mind doing it when traffic is stopped but when it rolls again, I turn back into lane. Some of the euro guys are pretty hardcore though and will lane split with faster moving traffic 40km/h + !
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A user on this site, many years ago, got busted for slowly riding on the shoulder of the Don Valley Parkway. He was charged with street racing and his bike was impounded for a week.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/street-racing-thousands-charged-few-convicted-1.752961


George Papazov says he's a perfect example.Last October, the 23-year-old got stuck in traffic on Toronto's Don Valley Parkway.
He wasn't far from his exit, so he crept slowly between the idle cars on his motorcycle. It didn't take long until he saw the flashing lights of a police cruiser.
"First thing he said is, 'Your bike is gone for a week,'" said Papazov.
The officer seized Papazov's motorcycle and licence for seven days right on the side of the road.
Papazov was charged with stunt driving and his bike was towed — at a cost of almost a $1,000.
When Papazov got his day in court, the charges didn't stand up. Papazov was found guilty of making an illegal lane change and fined $600.
OPP Const. Dave Woodford says what happens in court is not his concern. "My concern is getting those people off the road."
Simply being charged with stunt driving cost Papazov more than $2,000 in non-refundable towing and legal costs. He said he had to sell his motorcycle to pay the fees.
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something like 4getmoney

edit: g4gmoney

http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/archives/showthread.php?62072-CBC-Street-racing-thousands-charged-few-convicted
 
Also got a warning once. I believe, the fact that I'm riding a grown-ups' bike (FZ6) and wearing the most gear is helping my case when confronted on the side of the road.
 
I do lane split at times but only during rush hour traffic on highway in short bursts. I scan the next 4-5 cars in front of me and go for it. As soon as traffic starts moving around 30kmph I'm back in the lane. I take up spaces that are given by cars slow keeping up with traffic.

I do not split on city streets when I'm close to the lights. In case a cop sees me sitting between cars or filtering. In city streets it's a it more risky because people are doing other things besides driving such as looking for a store or an address, construction, cyclists, etc. however, when safe to do so, I split between 2 cars that are speed matching and impeding traffic.

I have not been caught so far *touch wood* I'm very cautious about and know my routes when and where cops are present.
 
I've lane split when the highway was closed km's ahead, and traffic was stopped. It was 30 degrees without a cloud in the sky, and I was in full riding gear. I was getting cooked, so decided it's safer for me to actually split, then suffer heat/sun stroke on a highway where it'd be tough for EMS to get to me. Puttered through at about 10km/h and had no issues.

I believe I was being safe, courteous and respectful. People can disagree - but I honestly don't care what they think or say. Stay safe my friends! :)
 
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GreyGhost said:
If you are having a bad day, you can get "street racing" for splitting and they take your bike (and a few thousand $)

California does the smart thing, you are allowed to split but I think you can only be going 15mph faster than traffic. Nobody is expecting someone to come flying up beside them.
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+1 it almost cuts my commute in half. Its not worth it in Ontario though as a cop having a bad day can completely screw your life up.

There are a lot of nay sayers on this board but in the US and Europe you typically don't see piles of bodies at the side of the road caused by lane splitting
 
Very tempted to split on a daily basis in the summer commuting from Markham to Brampton and back, but I rarely do.

The most splitting I'll do is at a red light, along the curb line in the city to make right hand turns on red lights when there are 4-5 cars in front, and one dummy is at the front not letting people turn right (That really grinds my gears).

This summer my wife and I spent 2 days riding a 125cc vespa around Paris, and I finally felt like I was among like-minded drivers. EVERYONE was courteous, used common sense and was appropriately aggressive. Lane splitting, and just generally riding with consideration of everyone around you. I was at home on those roads within 10 minutes of picking up the scooter LOL
 
Delboy said:
There are a lot of nay sayers on this board but in the US and Europe you typically don't see piles of bodies at the side of the road caused by lane splitting
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European drivers are also trained vastly better than North American drivers, unlike our cracker-jack licensing system here, so accidents are less likely to begin with.

As for the controversy here, well, the safety debate completely aside.....it pisses off cagers. First, it can scare the crap out of them when a cyclist flies between them and the car next to them, secondly they get irked because of the "that guy must feel he's more important than the rest of us" mentality, and thirdly it has a very real potential to incite road rage based on such. Few amongst us don't get ****** in some way or another when we're stuck in traffic in our cages and see some idiot in a BMW or Mercedes driving on the shoulder, or swerving into an on ramp they have no business using because they can then blast along and pass a few cars....because they're more important than you.

Cagers see bikers doing effectively the same thing the same way.

Those things alone keep my opinion firmly against it based solely on the very real fact that it just lowers the already poor public image of motorcyclists.

Bicyclists are already virtually universally regarded as the scum of the road by most motorists, and the good ones (that actually ride responsibly and follow the rules) are lumped in courtesy of the idiots who don't, but if motorcyclists keep doing things that are also destroying our image, we won't be far behind in the same universal condemnation.
 
PrivatePilot said:
European drivers are also trained vastly better than North American drivers, unlike our cracker-jack licensing system here, so accidents are less likely to begin with.

As for the controversy here, well, the safety debate completely aside.....it pisses off cagers. First, it can scare the crap out of them when a cyclist flies between them and the car next to them, secondly they get irked because of the "that guy must feel he's more important than the rest of us" mentality, and thirdly it has a very real potential to incite road rage based on such. Few amongst us don't get ****** in some way or another when we're stuck in traffic in our cages and see some idiot in a BMW or Mercedes driving on the shoulder, or swerving into an on ramp they have no business using because they can then blast along and pass a few cars....because they're more important than you.

Cagers see bikers doing effectively the same thing the same way.

Those things alone keep my opinion firmly against it based solely on the very real fact that it just lowers the already poor public image of motorcyclists.

Bicyclists are already virtually universally regarded as the scum of the road by most motorists, and the good ones (that actually ride responsibly and follow the rules) are lumped in courtesy of the idiots who don't, but if motorcyclists keep doing things that are also destroying our image, we won't be far behind in the same universal condemnation.
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The other thing is even where it is legal, its still a choice. People don't have to do it if it makes them uncomfortable.

I think there would be a lot less rage than you imagine, but you are always going to get guys like this http://lanesplitter.jalopnik.com/driver-who-swerved-to-hit-a-motorcycle-i-dont-care-1737184460 no matter what or how you are riding
 
Delboy said:
I think there would be a lot less rage than you imagine
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Road rage isn't always outwardly evident to the person causing it. Most people can keep their anger under control and as such aren't the sort of people who will slam their car into park and jump out ready for a fistfight, but that doesn't mean that they aren't inwardly angry, and consciously or otherwise they tend to be more aggressive and/or unsafe drivers in the following the situation that triggered it.

IE, you lane split and piss off a cager who then fumes about it for a half hour...and does stupid things which potentially puts other cyclists (and yes, car drivers) at risk down the road. Theoretical, but I trust you see where I'm coming from. The "bad day at work so I'm going to come home and yell at my family" scenario - One is not connected to the other in any fashion, but the innocent people pay the price regardless.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Bicyclists are already virtually universally regarded as the scum of the road by most motorists, and the good ones (that actually ride responsibly and follow the rules) are lumped in courtesy of the idiots who don't, but if motorcyclists keep doing things that are also destroying our image, we won't be far behind in the same universal condemnation.
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I agree with everything you've posted, but I gotta say when I'm on my bicycle, I obey absolutely NO rules of the road. The rules of the road are designed for motorized vehicles and pedestrians. Neither of which and both of which apply to a bicyclist, depending on the situation, so I usually just go by what makes the most sense, and keeps me (and thereby others around me) safe.

Never blindly follow any rules!
 
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