Big protests as France bans splitting country wide. Traffic is going to go from horrible to tres horrible in France. When I visited back in 2019 I saw a huge bike culture with riders splitting skillfully but at a high 25-30mph delta. Lots of weaving. How bad it would suck if same happened to California. Split responsibly people.
I'm surprised that the moto industry hasn't been more involved in this. Splitting & Filtering are huge selling points for bikes - i know many people who never would have started riding if it wasn't for the commuting benefits.
These kind of changes are going to have a negative impact on the entire industry around the globe - you'd figure that major manufactuers and vendors would be fighting this publically.
As I recall, there was an informal "spot in front" that all the bikes would filter up to, and there were lots of them.
There were a LOT of scooters and such when I was there but also regular bikes.
I'll never forget the girl in her dress, dark hose (to thin for leggings), helmet and gloves (sorry, didn't notice the shoes) filtering through one of those 5 lane roundabouts on her Ninja 600.
It has been ages since I was in France, but some of the riders were very agressive and doing things we would consider reckless here. I could see why there would be an increase. An outright ban seems harsh and I can see why they are protesting. Hope they find a middle ground where there are splitting rights with limits to increase safety.
Always going to be a few that are agressive with it. I would take a guess that is about 12% of those riders.
It has been ages since I was in France, but some of the riders were very agressive and doing things we would consider reckless here. I could see why there would be an increase. An outright ban seems harsh and I can see why they are protesting. Hope they find a middle ground where there are splitting rights with limits to increase safety.
Always going to be a few that are agressive with it. I would take a guess that is about 12% of those riders.
Was in Annecy few years ago. Anyway, was following a rider who was splitting on singe lane road. He had skills for sure, but that was very aggressive splitting, and that's by Santa Cruz mountains in the summer standards.
Yup... I have seen some crazyness happen for sure. Vision means more than seeing the road in this case. It means seeing what your bad behavior may mean for others.
Imagine driving into this thing.
The Arc De Triomphe roundabout in Paris.
12 streets lead into it. Ive driven it a few times myself and what a blast.
However Whammy can testify people there drive like ass.
You wont find nice looking cars in that city, even high performance cars have dents in them :ride:teeth
You have two route choices between home and work. Due to an experiment being conducted, one will allow lane splitting while the other will not.
Which route are you more likely to use?
If motorcycle accidents were counted on the two routes over 5 years, which do you expect would have more?
Would a 12% increase on the lane-splitting route compared to a prior base period surprise you?
I somehow got on the mailing list for a group called the Federation of European Motorcyclists' Associations. Last month one of their emails linked to an article about this experiment: French Lane Splitting Experiment Leads To More Accidents:
A lane splitting experiment showed ‘disappointing’ results, according to road safety experts, but they see the need for a second, more in-depth experiment.
A five-year experiment in 11 French departments, allowing motorcyclists to filter between lanes of slow moving or stopped traffic, will end on Sunday 31 January 2021. Filtering – or lane splitting – was never officially regulated by French law, but is tolerated.
The experiment, according to road safety experts, showed ‘disappointing’ results. CEREMA (the Centre for Studies and Expertise on Risks, Environment, Mobility and Planning), in charge of assessing the experiment, has submitted its report to the Interministerial Delegate for Road Safety (DISR). This report shows that the accident of motorized two-wheelers increased by 12% on the roads where the experiment took place, while it decreased by 10% on the other roads of the departments concerned.
A paper reporting results of the experiment (PDF) is linked in the FEMA article, but it's in French. However, I was interested in the one crash scenario illustrated and discussed (see page 17, figure 24). Google translation:
Based on more than 4,500 reports analyzed in order to know the detailed accident mechanisms, the following accident scenario appears:
A 2WD driver travels on the “CIF network” during a home-to-work trip, during morning or evening rush hours. The traffic is congested. The 2WD is position on the leftmost inter-queue (9 out of 10 cases) and circulate there. A driver no 2WD present in normal traffic lanes, upstream of 2WD, change lanes (right or left) without perceiving the 2WD which then hits it.
The main accident factors noted are then the unexpected change of lane or without respecting the rules of the highway code (no indication of the change of direction, absence of verification before disassembling, ...) for non 2WD drivers and the excessive or unsuitable speed, as well as dangerous overtaking (other inter-queues or BAU) for 2WD drivers.
IOW, French lane-splitting crashes are very similar to those in California. A driver's "unexpected change of lane or without respecting the rules" or the lane-splitter's "excessive or unsuitable speed" results in a cut-off and collision.
Also appearing in the FEMA article is the following instructional video from a French club (in French, of course). Starting at 1:44 are some guidelines. I've translated the captions:
For more on the contempt the French government has for its motorists, look up the "yellow vest" movement. Two years ago, after arbitrary reduction of speed limits, yellow vests destroyed 60% of the ubiquitous speed cameras.
I saw this study mentioned a few weeks ago. They only looked at divided roads with speeds > 45mph. I wouldn't be confident generalizing statements from such a biased study.
Personally, the only time I ever split on a divided highway is if traffic is stopped (or nearly stopped); however, I find great utility splitting on undivided, low-speed city streets. For some reason, those were explicitly ignored in this study.
I saw this study mentioned a few weeks ago. They only looked at divided roads with speeds > 45mph. I wouldn't be confident generalizing statements from such a biased study.
Personally, the only time I ever split on a divided highway is if traffic is stopped (or nearly stopped); however, I find great utility splitting on undivided, low-speed city streets. For some reason, those were explicitly ignored in this study.
1 in 10 basically is a notable change, so from a public perspective it is good.
From mine.. not so good because that 1 in 10 can be reduced with some proper protocols I believe.
How many of those 12% are just going to ignore it anyway and do the hooligan thing? :dunno
Just a gut feeling. My gut likes splitting.. hard to see it lost and I don't like the fact that this could be used by others to try to limit it in the future.
