Lane sharing safety assumptions / guidelines

I want to do sort of a peer review of lane sharing techniques. I’ll state some of the general guidelines I use when splitting and you can chime in to tell me I’m a moron, but only if you have a valid reason. Or you can add to the list. Most of these are pretty simple and obvious, but maybe that assumption is also wrong. I think we can all benefit from laying our ideas on the table and figuring out which ones are reasonable and which ones aren’t. I searched but didn't find any previous threads dealing with the subject IN THIS WAY.
Here goes:

1. I don’t set a personal speed limit; I’ll share past a vehicle if I think it’s safe, but…
   
   a) I don’t exceed a 5 to 10 MPH delta to the vehicle’s speed.​
   b) I generally don’t split above 45 MPH​
2. I split to the right of traffic in the left-hand lane unless passing a slower bike that’s also splitting. Then I split in other lanes past the bike if I don’t get waved by.
   
   a) I stay to the left of the lane marker as much as possible. Crossing over is a lane change which should be preceded by a turn signal.​
3. I’ll continue passing vehicles that are traveling next to each other in their respective lanes. When gaps open up which would allow for the vehicle to change lanes I take one of the following actions:
   
   a) If the gap is on the left I move to occupy the left side of the left lane until I resume splitting.​
   b) If the gap is on the right I move to occupy the left side of the left lane if possible. If not then I change lanes into the gap and then back into the left lane passing the vehicle on the left using my turn signal each time.​
   c) If the gap on the right isn’t big enough to pass then I continue splitting and position myself near the right front quarter panel of the vehicle that’s mostly behind me. This puts me in their visual range, and behind the vehicle that’s in front of them. If the front vehicle changes lanes into the gap, then this position allows the best possibility of avoiding them.​
4. I give a wave to vehicles that move over a little.
5. I’m not sure what to do about vehicles that move over too much. I usually wave.
6. I generally look 6 to 8 vehicles ahead keeping my peripherals on the ones next to me. (years of practice using peripheral vision to track boobies is a big help)
7. I check my mirrors but only when it’s safe to do so which is generally less often when splitting. But I check the damn things.
8. If I’m familiar with the freeway exit then I’ll split past the vehicles even in a single lane exit.
   
   a) In clover-type exits vehicles tend to hug the inner curb so I’ll often switch to the left side of the lane to go around.​
9. I don’t:
   
   a) Blip the throttle incessantly. (It’s just kind of annoying)​
   b) Pass another bike without their acknowledgment​
   c) Weave between lanes​

Anything else?

from http://www.whybike.com/motorcycle5.htm

10. Take it from a scout: Be Prepared
They teach you in the Motorcycle Safety Course not to cover the brake when riding. That may be good advice for the open road but when you are threading the needle between goliath vehicles you need every bit of reaction time you can get. Covering the brake with your index and middle finger while gripping the throttle with the other three may save you a half second when you need to stop.

11. Caginess
Watch out for areas where the cagers get "cagey". This includes where freeways merge, on/off ramps, where traffic starts to slow down or pick up. Slow down in these areas, because it is inevitable that a car will cut you off.

12. Traffic Density
Traffic Density is how close together the cars are packed. Generally as speed increases, traffic density decreases, but not always. The reason this is important to riders who split lanes is the effect it has on the drivers of the cars. As traffic density increases, the more alert a driver has to be to change lanes. And an alert driver is more likely to see you.

13. Use the cars for safety
You are most likely to get "squeezed" when one car is in the blind spot of another. Try to wait until the two cars are abreast of each other, or wait until you can pass normally. Drivers are more aware of the cars around them and less likely to turn into you.

14. Mirrors
Most passenger cars, with the exception of low sports cars and jacked-up trucks, have mirrors that are at the same level as your mirrors and handlebars. Since they stick out further than any other part of the car they are usually the part that gets hit in a collision. Take note of mirrors as you approach, first for placement, and then look at the driver’s eyes. You can get a lot of information by looking at the driver through the mirror and can get valuable clues to what their intentions are.

15. Lane Speed Differential
The best scenario for splitting lanes is when the lanes you are splitting are going the same speed. If one lane is moving faster than another there will be a lot of drivers in the slower lane trying to get into the faster lane; usually right when you get to them. When the lanes are going the same speed there are two ways for the traffic to line up. Either the cars are driving abreast of each other or they are staggered. While it may be easier to pass while the cars are staggered, it is more dangerous, since the drivers may not know you are there and could change lanes. When they are abreast, the drivers will not change lanes into the car next to them.

16. Space
Cars with a lot of space in front of them are bad news. Best case is that they are not paying attention to the road and that is bad news for you. Worst case is they are waiting for a gap to change lanes and that is inevitably right when you are next to them. It is not over once you pass them. Watch out for cars changing into the open space in front of the slow car.

17. Trucks
Any articulated vehicle is cause to slow down when splitting lanes. When traveling in a straight line the rear end of a trailer has the tendency to bounce around from side to side, usually right when you are passing it. On corners it is can be trickier. Since the rear wheels will take a tighter track than the front ones in a turn, many big rig drivers compensate by shifting to the outside of their lane. This means that when on the outside of a truck, you will find what was plenty of room to pass can quickly turn into a tight predicament when nearing the cab. If you are passing on the inside of a turn, you will find that the space will increase once you pass the rear wheels of the trailer, but beware, if you have to stop and the truck is still moving, get away from the trailer because those rear wheels may come back and hit you.

18. Thin is in but fat is that
While skinny bikes are good for splitting lanes, a big cruiser with loud pipes helps to alert drivers ahead of you. Don't rely on loud pipes though, many high price cars have excellent noise insulation.

I think getting comfortable while splitting is deadly.

I could split traffic without thought. It is actually pretty easy. Then the speed differential grows and then the next thing that happens is a car pulls in front of you totally unexpected because you are in a casual mode about splitting.

I think you should lane share like your life depends on every move. Because it does.

- Be careful of roadways under construction. The temporary concrete barrier that gets erected (as can be found on 680 at Sunol Grade) has a tendency to act as a funnel, reducing usable space. If it's too narrow, fuggedaboutit. Even if your spidey sense is tingling, wait it out to a wider opening to proceed.

- Asshats. They're everywhere. Just as you will encounter friendly cagers that shuffle over to give you a little room, you'll also encounter folks that will pinch your path off. In instances like that, cooler heads prevail. Drop pack, get into a standard lane of traffic (again, usually friendly cagers will see said asshattery commencing, and give you a break) and pass by under normal pretenses. Once safely by, proceed as you were, with a howdy-doody to the cagers who helped you along.

- Speaking of pinching, I find it useful to include front tires as part of my scan repertoire. Before the 3000lb hunk of metal and glass moves, it's lead by the tire. Once you see a front tire change direction and start rolling, start thinking of your exit (if it's not in your mind already). Ask yourself "Can I stop in time?", or "is there enough clearance to my right/left to maneuver?".

- Before entering the lane to be shared, look out for other bikers already in that lane.

badjoojoo said:

Here goes:

5. I’m not sure what to do about vehicles that move over too much. I usually wave.

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Most likely a fellow biker stuck caging it, and knowing your predicament. Two things come to mind here: 1. The exaggerated motion lets the traffic in front know there is a bike coming up on them, and 2. You can never have too much space.

sanjuro said:

I think getting comfortable while splitting is deadly.

I could split traffic without thought. It is actually pretty easy. Then the speed differential grows and then the next thing that happens is a car pulls in front of you totally unexpected because you are in a casual mode about splitting.

I think you should lane share like your life depends on every move. Because it does.

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Lane splitting actually gives me a headache. It's the most concentration I've ever devoted to anything. Trying to watch every car, every driver, and every gap. It gets tiring.

Some really good additions guys, keep it up!
Yeah, lane splitting will exhaust your energy faster than driving in a blizzard. And keep it in perspective; this is your life you're dealing with.

this is what I've learned so far (work in progress):

I don't split over 20mph, to start. It just feels way too crazy for me.

I don't split on the bridge, the lanes are narrower there and there's crazy wind.

I don't split where traffic is merging or exiting, unless everybody's damn near stopped.

I don't split at an intersection unless I know I can reach the front of the line before the light turns green.

When I do split to the front at an intersection even if I'm in front I have to keep in mind threats coming from six different directions-- the two cars behind me, people that might run a red from the sides, oncoming left-turners, and pedestrians.

I don't split between lanes that are going at significantly different speeds. If I get caught in a slowing one and don't see it coming, I just suck it up and stay put rather than dart out into an approaching gap in the faster lane-- although I could-- because people right in front of me might be seeing the same gap and have NO IDEA I am a couple cars back ready to accelerate out past them way faster than a car would move.

I don't split where I can't see ahead. I try to avoid ever being stuck behind trucks or large SUVs with tinted windows-- I HATE those damn things, can't see past them and they're so fat they're hard to get past, so sometimes I just stay stuck behind them for a minute or two until I can change lanes normally to get past.

Whenever there's anything unusual and hairy going on-- random lanes closed on the bridge and I don't know how many, construction, cars slowing down suddenly, etc-- even though I could just share between the slowing cars, and it's awfully tempting, I DON'T do it. I'm worried enough about owning my own normal lane space when cars are squirrely and merging, I'm not going to split into a situation where I don't know what's actually going on. If cars are slowing suddenly, there just might be a reason, and I don't want to be caught in the middle if they start swerving around to avoid the crowd of aardvarks or whatever is in the road.

I never, ever assume that cars are going to make room for me to move into a normal lane space, and do so very cautiously without hanging around waiting for them to notice me.

I avoid cars, but at times I briefly hover nearby using them as moving shields against other cars. I can't count on them not to blindly run me over when I'm isolated, but they tend to notice each other much more readily.


Spidey sense. Very important. When cars swerve randomly between lanes right in front of me without signaling, I am annoyed-- but not surprised.



Oh, and when cars swerve around needlessly to make room for me, I am not going to bother distracting myself to give them positive feedback for distracting me, much less taking any hands off the bars to wave at them. They annoy me. EXCEPT for the ones that are sitting in stopped traffic, and actually happen to notice that I'm parked there next to them not moving because their mirror is 1" too close to the mirror of the car next to them, and then they kindly scoot the hell over to let me past. I love those people.

Mind the gap. I like the left lane. I change lane position a lot. When in the gap with a car to my right, I move toward the left. I try to position myself forward of the drivers shoulder so he might see me IF he bothers to look before he changes lanes. I look for shoulder runoff just in case.

This applies to splitting on freeway with an HOV (carpool) lane. Traffic in these lanes tends to be pretty stable except when approaching exits, when people will start baling out of the lane to get over for their exit. This is usually pretty easy to spot and usually not a big problem. More of an issue is after an onramp when there are people battling their way across however many lanes of traffic there are, to get into the HOV lane. They are not usually moving as fast as the HOV traffic, and they are trying to pay attention to so many inputs they may miss my little headlight, and faster rate of approach. So I am particularly wary on those sections of the road.

TheRiddler said:

Lane splitting actually gives me a headache. It's the most concentration I've ever devoted to anything. Trying to watch every car, every driver, and every gap. It gets tiring.

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I'm on the BB every day, and find it's actually refreshing and invigorating. The very careful attention required when splitting means letting go of spurious thoughts and distractions, and being aware of weird shit happening on the periphery. It's not like I'm meditating, but no question, it's an altered state - and a good one. I arrive at work ready for whatever's on my plate, usually feeling pretty good.

It can be tiring, and if I feel I'm not up for the level of attention required, I back off and get in line behind a small car.

The points in the thread are pretty good. I would add that it's foolish to think lights, colors, or pipes are going to make cagers more aware of you. Maybe some of 'em, but not the ones that will steer into you, so I treat each vehicle as if it's a potential threat, driven by a boob who has no clue I'm there. As stated above, we can use the fact that the boobs usually have good awareness of other cagers to our advantage.

I prefer to stay in a low gear/keep the RPM's up. It's good to have close to your max HP available instantly if you need it. Not good to be lugging around in 3rd gear at 15 mph.

keep checking your "6". I have no issues lane sharing but I'm usually one of the slower guys out there so I always try and accommodate the faster guys coming behind me

tocino said:

keep checking your "6". I have no issues lane sharing but I'm usually one of the slower guys out there so I always try and accommodate the faster guys coming behind me

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Yes check your 6, but nothing behind you is more important than what's going on in front of you.

When I'm riding I'm the most important person in the universe. My safety comes before anyone that comes up wanting to pass.

But yeah, check your damn mirrors once in a while.

When you're splitting and you get passed, try to remain calm and resist the urge to match their speed.

I used to get caught up in this a lot, crossing the Bay Bridge, some one would pass me, or I'll come up on another biker in another lane, and I'd get the urge to keep up. Following the unknown biker though traffic at high speeds, and high deltas.

While this was usually fun and thrilling, it is very unsafe, and I've had a few close calls that could have ended very bad.

Now I make a point to check myself, move over and let them pass. And continue on my way. Usually I end up next the speeding splitter further down the road anyways.

This next year will be my 14 or 15th ( I forget what I said last year) year commuting full time on a motorcycle. If that means anything.. I wish it meant I was a hella good rider but it doesn't, it only really means I'm still alive. Reality sucks doesn't it?..

2. As the years pass, the less personal rules I keep myself to regarding what I will or won't do in traffic. I ride mostly using my 6th sense.

1. I ride as fast as conditions allow through traffic at a pace that allows cars less time to react. (I've had bad, bad, experiences on a merely keeping up with traffic. spinning cars and shit)

3. I try as best I can not to be aggressive towards anyone for any perceived near death experience or any other reason and default to politeness as much as possible.

5. I keep it under 90mph. (But that's only because my road bike does exactly 90mph. )

4. Espresso is good.

If the sun is in your mirrors and you can't see behind you, think about what that car in front of you sees.

Don't tailgate the motorbike in front of you. If you are so close you can't see his mirrors, he can't see you.

My personal feeling on this stuff is to dumb down the rules of this kind of stuff (that is, things that are questionably legal, including lane-splitting, hauling ass on backroads, having a beer and riding, etc...things we do but know we shouldn't) to the bare minimum of what's safe and do-able by the most inexperienced rider among us.

After you master the basics, you should carefully find your own limits of what's safe. I think a 10 mph delta is for weenies, but 5 mph might feel scary for some and I totally respect and understand, because I lane-split behind Doug Toland at 55 mph on the 405 in totally stopped traffic and it was freakin' terrifying, but for Doug it was no big deal.

I guess what I'm trying to say is we don't need rules for this. I'm happy to tell you what I do, and you're free to take my advice, or not. But in general, don't get in my way, endanger my life or judge me for how I ride, and I'll do the same for you. Deal?

What's the big deal about only filtering to the front at a light when you are sure it won't turn green until after you get there? How is sharing at 5mph at an intersection any different that sharing in bumper to bumper on the freeway? If the light turns green and I'm halfway there, I just wait for an opening to drop into, no big deal IMO.

Don't "dive in" to slowing traffic. I usually scrub almost all of my speed differential just as the cars are standing on the brakes too.. then jump in, start splitting, and increase my delta until it feels safe.

Be aware of the time. Drivers are most prone to abrupt lane changes into the carpool lane for a short time before and after the end of carpool lane hours.

Gabe said:

My personal feeling on this stuff is to dumb down the rules of this kind of stuff (that is, things that are questionably legal, including lane-splitting, hauling ass on backroads, having a beer and riding, etc...things we do but know we shouldn't) to the bare minimum of what's safe and do-able by the most inexperienced rider among us.

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New to California? Lane-splitting is not "questionably legal", as you could learn from The Definitive Lane-SHARING Thread in the LEO forum. As a matter of fact, why don't you compare it to drinking and riding over in that thread. I'm sure you'll get a warm welcome.

After you master the basics, you should carefully find your own limits of what's safe. I think a 10 mph delta is for weenies, but 5 mph might feel scary for some and I totally respect and understand, because I lane-split behind Doug Toland at 55 mph on the 405 in totally stopped traffic and it was freakin' terrifying, but for Doug it was no big deal.

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Well, there you have it. If you can drop a Famous Name, not even the laws of physics apply. Next time you see ol' Doug, ask him a question for the benefit of BARF: If he's splitting at +55mph to traffic, and two car lengths ahead a vehicle changes lanes, what braking technique does he use to achieve the 3g deceleration needed to avoid a crash (i.e., double the braking performance of even a MotoGP bike)?

I guess what I'm trying to say is we don't need rules for this. I'm happy to tell you what I do, and you're free to take my advice, or not. But in general, don't get in my way, endanger my life or judge me for how I ride, and I'll do the same for you. Deal?

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Well, no. But here's a counter-offer: How about you MYOFB and let BARFers who want to discuss strategies that make them safer do so without injecting your unhelpful opinions?