Elizabeth's Blog

depends on what you mean by share. some drivers think,just because you aren't using all of your lane it's ok to squeeze past in your lane. especially on two lane roads with a double line! and that goes double for those lane-splitting idiots on sportbikes as well! just because there's space, it doesn't mean it's alright to go between cars to get ahead. I've tried to ride like the manual says, right hand side in curb lane, left hand side in median lane. all that gets you is people in a hurry trying to pass you in the limited space, or being invisible to someone pulling out of a side street or driveway. more bikers are killed by vehicles pulling out in front of them, even a helmet doesn't help with a 40mph impact headfirst into the side of a car. 8 out of 10 times the driver says (I didn't see the bike), if your view is obstructed by bushes,signs or other vehicles, inch out slowly don't gun it!

I hope the story talks about the motorcyclist adapting to the car and not vice versa. A lot of the motorcycles driving around that I see are on one wheel and not two and are trying to show off. It becomes very dangerous and concerning.

I know your story is over, but I wanted to make a comment. One of the problems is the use of louder pipes being illegal. The little drag racer cars have the loudest mufflers I've ever heard! Louder pipes give advance notice a bike is coming. I know it makes me pay more attention. Anyway, the way people drive around here is what made me get rid of mine. I guess turn signals, speedometers & common sense are no longer a required law. Every day I see the police speeding & changing lanes without a signal. I have also seen them use their lights & siren to get through a crowded intersection..then shut them off and go to a store. I'd like to see a story on that topic. How can the traffic laws be enforced when the very people that are supposed to watch for it...do it worse than any other drivers?

WHen they ride tandem They come really close to my left side... Since I cant stand the Bike Week... I drive to the left and with Brights on if they have brights on... I am so sorry and mean,but I am sick of Bike Week.

Donin, I'd heard about this concept of people using loud pipes supposedly for warning purposes.

That's one of the least rational and poorest excuses I've heard! It's just an excuse for bikers who want to be obnoxiously loud.

Summed up nicely "pkpiano2".

I want to add this however. Bikers are not ALWAYS splitting lanes (driving down the dotted lane lines) just for kicks. We've discussed this before here. MOST Motorcycles have no fans (as cars do) to cool the engine/radiator with forced air. They will VERY QUICKLY OVERHEAT while sitting in slow moving or stopped traffic (Just as your car would when the fan belt/fuse dies.) That is why MOST motorcycles MUST lane split in those conditions. And that is why it is NOT against the law. Dozens of motorcycles with disintegrated gaskets and seized pistons in the middle of the hwy are a much greater hazard/problem for everyone.

Even bikes with forced air ASSIST fans need to keep moving to avoid engine damage. Lets not get into a discussion about brands or countries here; that’s not the subject here. This applies to motorcycles made by every brand in every country. And yay for you if you have a motorcycle that claims it can sit in stopped traffic without suffering any engine damage. MOST cannot so they will continue to split lanes while you sit there in stopped traffic. It’s important that motorists in cars understand this.

Obviously a lot of people commenting here do not own motorcycles.

Ahhhh, more hair-splitting! Gotta love it!

Hieronymus:
Stopped traffic doesn't stop for long unless there's a TOTAL blockage across all lanes and involves debris that cannot be moved easily; a rare occurrence. So if that’s what you mean by “truly STOPPED traffic” then that’s not the issue here and we can all agree that “stop and go” traffic or “slow moving” traffic is the situation for discussion here. I clearly was not talking about lane-splitting just for kicks (when it isn’t necessary); in fact I SAID SO.

But one comment in case you DID mean the rare occurrence when traffic is actually stopped dead for LONG periods of time. IN that case, why would ANYONE care if the motorcycles ride on by and reduce the traffic volume? Why would you want them to “just shut the engine off”? Unless you’re just envious. (some people are – see previous Blogs) Laws are not written to protect you from your own irrational feelings unless you are a King.

We’ve had this discussion here before (recently) and (to my great surprise) many people DO INDEED complain about motorcycles passing by between lanes in STOPPED traffic. They think it’s unfair. One person actually said she would open her car door the next time. I was sure to cover those people as well in my post.

You say you “understand if it ALMOST stops a couple times for very brief periods”. Clearly you don’t understand. OK, first of all, no motorcyclist is going to turn their engine on and off every few feet in stop (& go to avoid more hair-splitti

coolant flow. So, sorry guy, had to blow your misunderstanding out of the sky. It’s too important. No hard feelings. I hope you and others reading this will have a better understanding and stop having the dangerous attitudes displayed here and in other Blogs.

I agree that some people on sport bikes drive recklessly . . . and so do many more in cars. In BOTH cases they should have their licenses revoked and cars/bikes impounded for a year in which they are required to take and pay for a comprehensive safety class (including witnessing accident scenes). If that doesn’t cure them, then they should have to take the bus from then on.

My GOD man! You like to argue & split-hairs don't you?! You can keep refining your previous points all you want but my points stand, so let it go. You can’t argue with facts and hair-splitting just wastes everyone’s time.

Motorcycles are MUCH smaller than cars, therefore they are physically capable of lane-splitting and of getting through when cars cannot. I already explained why/when they HAVE to do so. And, yes, in the very rare case of a TOTALLY BLOCKED traffic situation (which again is not an issue, but you persist) where even motorcycles cannot go through, they would have to stop as well. But, just as is so with motorists in cars, they wouldn’t know that until they get to the front (or are stopped by backed-up motorcycles between lanes), would they? And why wouldn’t/shouldn’t they move all the way forward even if they DID know? Would you just sit there with 50 empty car lengths in front of you instead of moving forward just because vehicles in other lanes are stopped? Or because you know you eventually have to stop? And in the mean time, there may be a dozen roads/exits along the way that they could get to/take so they WOULD BE reducing traffic volume. You suggesting they should stop behind the stopped cars instead of moving along where they are permitted is like saying the cars in a moving lane should get behind cars in a stopped lane. Why? Because if you can’t then no one can? When you become the King of the U.S.A, you can make that happen.

So you’re complaining that in a totally blocked situation a few tiny motorcycles would get in front of the

Gman, looking at your posts, yeah, what was I THINKIN? Yeah, *I* was the one to argue here! ROFL!

I simply tried to make my points easier for you to understand but I now see that's a futile point. Go misconstrue someone else's points and then insult your misinterpreted views thereof.

Sorry to BURST your bubble, but this is ALL HOGWASH, I drove a bike for several years and I never once did the crap you are spewing forth. If a motorcycle can not sit in traffic in the spot where it is, then they need to be taken off and made to be illegal on the highways and roads.

My motorcycle NEVER shut off, it also NEVER OVERHEATED, so I do not believe a word of this either.

My car would be more apt to overheat sitting in stalled traffic over any motorcycle, I even own several VW bugs, the OLD AIR COOLED ENGINES, not the new ones, these then would have to keep moving in stalled traffic per your comments about motorcycles, which are also AIR COOLED. I never once ever had my old VW's overheat (they had no fan and no radiator) sitting in traffic waiting for a light to change or an accident to be cleared.

And even my neighbor who rides a Harley says this information is BOGUS, more like misinformation (and he's a certified Harley mechanic!)

He says this is just an excuse for the BAD motorcyclists to pass by stopped cars because they just don't want to wait their turn like the rest of us.

As for driving on the shoulder, that depends, I've seen cops direct traffic on the shoulder many times to bypass an accident that had all lanes blocked, you just can't blatantly drive on the shoulder because you want to. You can also use the shoulder in emergency situations that could prevent an accident.

But passing by and whizzing between stopped cars is just not a smart thing to do, motorcyclists should keep their place and wait their turn just like the rest of us.