Thoughts on "lane splitting"

[cobravenom452]

Right, like I said to my state rep. there are many more motorcyclist on the road today than even 10 years ago. So why not make it more motorcycle friendly?

[John]

I think we should be able to turn left on red lights, because bikes don't trigger them 50% of the time! get that law passed please.

you can do that at many lights in michigan.

[Scruit]

you can do that at many lights in michigan.

You can proceed through a red light in Ohio if the lights don't cycle in a reasonable amount if time. If I am alone I will run the red (safely) if my lane is skipped for two light cycles, or 5 minutes passes with no cycling and there is a break is cross traffic.

If there is a car behind me I motion the up to have them park over the sensor.

[jdonn]

You can proceed through a red light in Ohio if the lights don't cycle in a reasonable amount if time. If I am alone I will run the red (safely) if my lane is skipped for two light cycles, or 5 minutes passes with no cycling and there is a break is cross traffic.

If there is a car behind me I motion the up to have them park over the sensor.

I have done both 100's of times... Gahanna has a light that I let cycle 4 times before I took a run for it. I got it on the gopro and was going to take it to the cops but didn't want to get fucked for running it w/ video proof.

[Scruit]

I have done both 100's of times... Gahanna has a light that I let cycle 4 times before I took a run for it. I got it on the gopro and was going to take it to the cops but didn't want to get fucked for running it w/ video proof.

Any time I run a light because it didn't cycle I send an email to the city engineer. They usually fix them within a few weeks.

And I set the dashcam video aside, just like you...

[jdonn]

Any time I run a light because it didn't cycle I send an email to the city engineer. They usually fix them within a few weeks.

And I set the dashcam video aside, just like you...

I'll have to look into sending an email to the city engineer's... I know other people have ran into this issue at the same light cause I have been coming the other way and seen someone run carefully run it.

[HeavyDuty]

I think we should be able to turn left on red lights, because bikes don't trigger them 50% of the time! get that law passed please.

Always stop your bike on top of one of the trigger wires that runs parallel to your bike that should solve your problem some times when you stop between them your bike doesn’t have enough mass to trigger the light. It has never been a problem on the Harley.

[NinjaNick]

Always stop your bike on top of one of the trigger wires that runs parallel to your bike that should solve your problem some times when you stop between them your bike doesn’t have enough mass to trigger the light. It has never been a problem on the Harley.

Don't work here. Hell I've even gotten off and pushed the crosswalk button. I just run them now.

[Scruit]

Here's an intersection I've had trouble with:

The red box shows the grooves in the pavement where the sensor wires are. Note the obvious flaw. If you don't pull up past the stop bar then you won't be seen, car or bike. The lights can cycle for the crosswalk or opposing traffic, but won't turn green for this lane unless there is a car in this lane. The sensor does not pick up bikes even if you park in the front left corner with your wheels directly on the seam. If you DO pull up past the stop bar then you have committed an offence, you are going to get honked at by people turning left across the front of you, and if one of them clips you on the way pas then it's YOUR fault.

I run this light pretty much every time I come to it - but I still have to wait two cycles. Another one for the city engineer to sort out.

Edited April 13, 2013 by Scruit

[jschaf]

Pulling parallel & centered on the wire only works if your bike has a lot of iron in it. It's amusing how clueless some drivers are about the wires. A lot of the time when I'm sitting 1st at one of these problematic lights a car will pull behind me & leave plenty of room by not pulling up over the wires. When the light doesn't change & I point at the light, then point at the wires, then motion for them to move forward they just sit there with this oblivious look on their faces.

[Scruit]

Pulling parallel & centered on the wire only works if your bike has a lot of iron in it. It's amusing how clueless some drivers are about the wires. A lot of the time when I'm sitting 1st at one of these problematic lights a car will pull behind me & leave plenty of room by not pulling up over the wires. When the light doesn't change & I point at the light, then point at the wires, then motion for them to move forward they just sit there with this oblivious look on their faces.

I know that look... You wave them closer and they look at you like you're going to road rage them.

[RHill]

A buddy once told me you can put rare earth magnets under your bike or on the bottom of your boots to help activate these signals. Any truth to that?

[jdonn]

I've heard that too but I've also looked it up and it takes a TON of magnets to make it work... Sometimes. I know IP sells them but, I won't spend the 30-40 bucks for it. If only they would install the motion sensor ones!

[HeavyDuty]

GreenLight High Power Trigger is a magnet that is suppose to help change the light

http://www.jpcycles.com/product/151-387

[magley64]

A buddy once told me you can put rare earth magnets under your bike or on the bottom of your boots to help activate these signals. Any truth to that?

should help, but might not... I just blow through lights that haven't changed in a timely manner, treat them like stop signs.

[RHill]

should help, but might not... I just blow through lights that haven't changed in a timely manner, treat them like stop signs.

Pretty much what I do as well. I wouldn't spend money on doing it, but I do have a few rare earth magnets that I could test it out with. Haven't had a issue with any lights lately though.

[Mr Anderson]

I wrote a representative a while ago and was in communication with his assistant. She got in touch with ODOT and their reply was ridiculous. They said that if motorcycles lane share cars will want/try to as well.

I'm all about lane sharing.

lol That makes no sense. Got to love Ohio.

I meant the cars wanting to share lanes.

[Scruit]

lol That makes no sense. Got to love Ohio.

I meant the cars wanting to share lanes.

Happens in Russia. They don't care about keeping to lanes so you get cars three abreast on two-lane roads. It's normal there. Don't want it to be normal here.

Although it's a stupid excuse for banning lane splitting.

[wantahertzdonut]

You can proceed through a red light in Ohio if the lights don't cycle in a reasonable amount if time. If I am alone I will run the red (safely) if my lane is skipped for two light cycles, or 5 minutes passes with no cycling and there is a break is cross traffic.

If there is a car behind me I motion the up to have them park over the sensor.

I used to do that, but gave up because for the most part drivers would just gave me that dumbass-in-headlights expression and just sit where they were.

[redkow97]

I think we should be able to turn left on red lights, because bikes don't trigger them 50% of the time! get that law passed please.

If you sit through 2 full cycles of th light without getting a green, I believe you can run it without getting convicted. That doesn't mean you won't get ticketed of arrested, but you'll win if you fight it.

[redkow97]

As for general feelings on lane splitting, I think you are always going to piss of drivers when you act as though your time is more valuable than theirs. It's simple jealousy. They're not pissed you're filtering through traffic, they're pissed you are moving while they're stuck.

IMHO any behavior that doesn't put others at risk of harm should be legal.

[conn-e-rot]

It is amazing how fast a light gets fixed once you report it to ODOT. I tried several times to get one fixed by me with no success. One email to ODOT and was fixed within a week.

[Cmpfreak88]

Coming from California, I'm all for lane splitting, used to do it all the time and really hate when I go to do it here and remember I'm not supposed to. Never had any problems there with cars trying to lane split, so not sure about that argument, haha.

[redkow97]

Not enforcing a ban is easier than creating legislation that explicitly allows lane splitting or lane sharing.

By the letter of the law, any time rubber touches paint (without signaling for a lane change), that's a lane violation, and you can be cited for it.

Lane violations are frequently cited as the "go-to" for pulling people over when they're suspected of other unrelated criminal activity.

[John]

As for general feelings on lane splitting, I think you are always going to piss of drivers when you act as though your time is more valuable than theirs. It's simple jealousy. They're not pissed you're filtering through traffic, they're pissed you are moving while they're stuck.

that's their dumbass problem lol. i mean, are they mad that traffic in the other direction is moving?

really they are thinking about it wrong. instead of thinking i have to wait so everyone else does too, they should think if he can go through there, why wait? i mean he could just sit there and add to the congestion, or he could GTFO there.

i think what we really need to do, is show them how inconvenient it really is when bikes take up one space. a thousand bikes downtown at rush hour, all making a point to stay in line and take up their one space. people will bitch but sorry... we would get out of your way if it were legal

sorta like what they did in france when they wanted to make lane splitting illegal.

http://www.twowheelsblog.com/post/4086/french-federation-of-angry-bikers-protest-against-lane-splitting-ban

:D