Bay Area Riders Forum official Lane Splitting Guidelines

budman

General Menace
Staff member
I would have liked to hold off doing this until the CHP released theirs, but that has been thrown into a holding pattern for months due to the Commissioner stepping down. Not sure if we will see them this year. **EDIT CHP Tips issued now**

DataDan, Enchanter and Kazman joined me in writing these. Thanks much guys.

A press release with them was sent out today. Hope some of the media shares them as so many motorcyclist do not come to barf.

They are attached.
If you are a moto shop or other business that would like to print and post please email me.
We have a polished up good looking version for that. thebudman@kobza.com

If you are just getting into Lane Splitting read them.
If you are a kamakazi splitter please read them.
Even if you are a seasoned splitter there may well be good info for you too.


Lane Splitting – Filtering – Sharing Guidelines

Presented by
Bay Area Riders Forum


Your safety depends on your good judgment:
  • Don't expect to be seen. Lane-splitters are hard to see and some drivers are distracted.
  • Keep speed down so you have time and space to react to hazards.
  • Avoid splitting next to large trucks and other wide vehicles. They reduce space available and can be deadly in a crash.
  • Leave a margin for error, so when someone makes a mistake in the tight confines of the splitting corridor, it may not end in a crash.
  • Respect other motorists. Commuting is a cheerless grind for everyone. Don't make it harder for them even if a few make it harder for you.
  • Watch for lane changes, they are a frequent cause of crashes.
Less risk:
  • Lower traffic speed and speed differential.
  • Wider lanes.
  • Dense bumper-to-bumper traffic that limits ability of vehicles to change lanes.
  • Left-most lanes farther from merging and exiting traffic.
More risk:
  • Higher traffic speed or speed differential.
  • Narrow lanes, wide vehicles.
  • Gap in traffic that permits a quick lane change across the splitting corridor.
  • Right side lanes near merging and exiting traffic.
  • Intersections and crosswalks in the city.
  • Following or being followed closely by another motorcycle.
  • Night time or wet pavement.
Minimize your risk:
  • Ride with your head and eyes up, looking well ahead.
  • Anticipate the flow of traffic and predict hazards.
  • Limit your speed to 10-15 miles per hour above surrounding traffic. This helps others to see you and gives you more time and space to react to hazards.
  • Adjust your speed for road and weather conditions.
  • Cover your brakes to reduce reaction time.
  • Keep your hands and feet on the controls.
  • Don't split when traffic is moving at higher speeds. It raises risk but saves little time.
  • Be skilled at maximum braking and swerving.

Disclaimer: Lane Splitting can be dangerous, you could be seriously hurt or killed. These guidelines are meant to provide basic information based on experienced riders/commuters input and the SafeTrec Lane Splitting study by UC Berkeley. There is no guarantee these guidelines will keep you safe. Ride with extreme vigilance.
Additional tips are available at: www.bayarearidersforum.com/features and www.bayarearidersforum.com/1Rider
 

Attachments

  • Lane Splitting Guidelines.pdf
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Last edited by a moderator:

ThinkFast

Live Long
Want to add something about what to do if you discover another bike on your tail? (As in: dip into a gap in the left lane so the other bike can pass by you safely and easily).
 

CocoLoco

FN #5
Respect other motorists. Commuting is a cheerless grind for everyone. Don't make it
harder for them even if a few make it harder for you.

The rest is judgement of acceptable risk. People who put the above as a priority are likely to be more grounded, understand their own level of control measuring the risks involved more accurately, and judging when the risk is acceptable to take.

....I think I just pulled a muscle patting myself on the back...
 

budman

General Menace
Staff member
Want to add something about what to do if you discover another bike on your tail? (As in: dip into a gap in the left lane so the other bike can pass by you safely and easily).

We are not adding or changing. They are issued.

We had to keep it a one page document so there is only so much that can be included and still hold good technical writing protocols.
 

OaklandF4i

Darwin's exception
:thumbup Nice job Budman! I know you and others put a lot of work and effort into this for our benefit. Thank you.
 

Marcoose

50-50
Filtering?! Poor DataDan must be scratching his noggin and looking up definitions on the dictionary. :twofinger

Otherwise, guidelines look good.
 

CocoLoco

FN #5
I like "filtering." It's a nice word to describe what we do. It's positive and unobtrusive. No false pretense that we are doing something out of the goodness of our hearts connected to a word like "sharing." Yet no negative associated with the idea that we are taking something from cagers by "splitting" the lane with them.
 

mbsv

Well-known member
Nice. Typo in the last URL if you can fix it.

I don't know what the last bullet is saying--feels like it's missing a word.

I bet a phrase could be put in about 'looking behind' somewhere, but the 'looking well ahead' is so much more important that 'check your six' might be a distraction.
 

budman

General Menace
Staff member
Fixed the typo... Thanks!

I can't believe that was missed after reading it 10 times.. :laughing
 

budman

General Menace
Staff member
Nice looking ahead badjoojoo :thumbup

Good to get these out but the CHP's are the ones that will get most people attention.

I proposed doing them in 2011 when the DMV dude proposed banning lane sharing. That was in the CA motorcycle safety committee. He got pissed because I was not a State representative just a citizen member.

We had the CHP guidelines in '13 for a few months before they were pulled.
 

HeatXfer

Not Erudite, just er
PDF link not working for me - I get an "invalid attachment" notice

Nevermind, it's working now. Probably a FireFox issue at my end.
 
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budman

General Menace
Staff member
Thanks Tom

It was a group effort. Everyone put some hours into it.
Probably more than they signed up for. :p

We had many rewrites and discussions.
 
This one doesn't parse very well.

You have overcome your panic reactions and can operate the controls smoothly in an emergency

Maybe something like this:

Practice operating the controls for adverse conditions until you have overcome your panic reactions, and can perform smoothly in an emergency.
 

bojangle

FN # 40
Staff member
This one doesn't parse very well.



Maybe something like this:

Practice operating the controls for adverse conditions until you have overcome your panic reactions, and can perform smoothly in an emergency.

Yeah, I agree with this.
 

auditude

Wut, bodda you?
Kudos to budman, DD and enchanter :thumbup

Talk about perseverance and dedication to the moto community; it is difficult to advocate on behalf of such a large group of humans that have various perspectives on the same thing. Many of them will never meet you nor be aware of your existence and the impact you have on riders on a national scale.

Cali riders have no idea how fortunate they are to have such a group of pioneers on their side.

:hail
 
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