Sadly it is not just Toronto, most of GTA if not world seems to have forgotten what that arm sticking out on the left of the steering wheel is for. This includes Toronto Police, I watched PSU04 make 6+ lane changes a few weeks ago, 0 signals
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Question on lane splitting
- Thread starter sundin4prez
- Start date
Sadly it is not just Toronto, most of GTA if not world seems to have forgotten what that arm sticking out on the left of the steering wheel is for. This includes Toronto Police, I watched PSU04 make 6+ lane changes a few weeks ago, 0 signals
Police who flagrantly drive like tools when there's no operative/legit nature for such really piss me off. They should be role models for good driving, and the reality is many are anything but.
sundin4prez
Active member
As a relatively new rider ( 3 years), the thing that drives me the most nuts on the road is that most drivers tend to ( and want to ) change lanes before actualy looking. Move halfway in between lanes, look, and then move all the way. Or just people that change lanes constantly to get ahead of everyone in parking lot like traffic; of course no signals at all.
marktwothousand
Well-known member
I narrowly avoided a ticket for apparently what would be referred to as “filtering” at a downtown intersection today. In my estimation, I was passing a police car who was in the right line, on his left, in stopped traffic. I did not drive between two lanes of vehicles, I crossed over the dotted line to get around a vehicle (the police car) stopped in front of me.
After I passed the officer, he told me to pull over and explained to me what he accused me of doing wrong - he said I was riding between lanes of traffic. I explained I would never do that, and that I was PASSING him on his left, because the car in the left lane was behind him and there was plenty of space to move in front of it (it was stopped far behind the white line at the intersection). The front bumper of the car I went in front of, Was behind the rear bumper of the car I was passing.
Although I think it was a very TIGHT diagonal pass around the left of the police car, I did make sure there was space for me to do the pass and that it wasn’t driving “between two vehicles”, because I know that counts as illegal. I have a diagram if anyone doesn’t understand.
I guess the question is, how would they differentiate between lane filtering and “passing on the left” in this situation?
After I passed the officer, he told me to pull over and explained to me what he accused me of doing wrong - he said I was riding between lanes of traffic. I explained I would never do that, and that I was PASSING him on his left, because the car in the left lane was behind him and there was plenty of space to move in front of it (it was stopped far behind the white line at the intersection). The front bumper of the car I went in front of, Was behind the rear bumper of the car I was passing.
Although I think it was a very TIGHT diagonal pass around the left of the police car, I did make sure there was space for me to do the pass and that it wasn’t driving “between two vehicles”, because I know that counts as illegal. I have a diagram if anyone doesn’t understand.
I guess the question is, how would they differentiate between lane filtering and “passing on the left” in this situation?
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http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook//section6.9.0.shtml
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook//section6.2.0.shtml
https://www.ontario.ca/document/official-mto-drivers-handbook/level-two-road-test#section-4
Welcome to the stupidity of the MTO/HTA
I don't know what the charge would be but you are supposed to leave 2-3 seconds between cars while moving.
On a road with a 40km/h limit one second is equal to 36.4 feet per second. Based on the MTO rule (suggestion?) you shouldn’t have merged/passed unless there was 70 – 110 feet of space if traffic is moving.
If you are behind a stopped car at a light you need to leave “enough space to pull out and pass without having to backup”. I can’t imagine this is more than 2-3 feet for most smaller bikes.
There is also a note in the “passing” section of “changing lanes” that says “don’t change lanes in or near an intersection” but does not specify any distance. I was taught 150 feet but who knows if that’s true.
TLDR: Don’t do anything if you know a cop is around because the rules are vague and they can charge you with whatever they want.
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook//section6.2.0.shtml
https://www.ontario.ca/document/official-mto-drivers-handbook/level-two-road-test#section-4
Welcome to the stupidity of the MTO/HTA
I don't know what the charge would be but you are supposed to leave 2-3 seconds between cars while moving.
On a road with a 40km/h limit one second is equal to 36.4 feet per second. Based on the MTO rule (suggestion?) you shouldn’t have merged/passed unless there was 70 – 110 feet of space if traffic is moving.
If you are behind a stopped car at a light you need to leave “enough space to pull out and pass without having to backup”. I can’t imagine this is more than 2-3 feet for most smaller bikes.
There is also a note in the “passing” section of “changing lanes” that says “don’t change lanes in or near an intersection” but does not specify any distance. I was taught 150 feet but who knows if that’s true.
TLDR: Don’t do anything if you know a cop is around because the rules are vague and they can charge you with whatever they want.
marktwothousand
Well-known member
^^this. Unfortunately I think this is what it came down to. Although It was an unmarked car, I could see it was a police car and i made what I thought was an appropriate pass. I even stopped behind the police car before deciding it was safe to diagonally move into the left lane. But you raise some good and important points about the passing distances, that’s some pretty arbitrary stuff.
Luckily the officer said pretty early on in the conversation that he wasn’t giving me a ticket and he was generally quite friendly. His window was also down and the fact that I have an aftermarket muffler probably didn’t help either.
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