My commute home started out nicely and without incident as I
hit the PCH from Paradise Cove after a long weekend of launching and retrieving
boats off of the pier and out of the ocean. I’m no longer certain what time of
year it was since this was during my first motorcycle life forty years ago but
I remember the scene like it was yesterday; nothing tragic, just significant
for me as a rider. PCH was pretty open all the way down to Malibu Canyon and I
had some nice bubbles within the traffic to ride in and get set for the ride
home to La Crescenta. Malibu Canyon was even better and I could get my ’71 Honda
CB500 into the twisties as much as I felt like without running up on traffic.
Highway 101 was in a normal traffic pattern with enough space to move along at
legal speeds without freaking anybody out; that is until I got down to Topanga
Canyon and things got locked up. Without the radio that my ’10 Victory Cross
Country is equipped with I had no way to directly find out what was up with the
traffic and had to take my cues from the drivers around me as I sat there
considering the prospect of lane-splitting, or as the vehicle codes call it, “land
sharing”. This was not something in my repertoire up to this point though I had
used other various maneuvers in emergency situations, stories for other times.
It looked grim with most of the drivers within view having already settled in
for a long wait.
I was sitting in the number one lane and checking out my
right mirror when I saw another rider coming up the lanes doing about 15 miles
per hour or so and I jumped in behind him for an uncomfortable few miles. Just
as I had begun to relax even a little bit and get a feel for it the other rider
pulled in behind a car and I followed; that’s when he looked at me and nodded
for me to take the lead. I felt obligated by rider courtesy and did but with my
heart in my throat the whole time and especially so when traffic moved even
just a bit because I just knew someone was going to jump lanes and make me a
door accessory. It seemed like a 100 miles but we’d shared the lead duties for
less than ten when we scooted around the accident that had closed all but one
lane and then flew into the open lanes. A bit later he gave me the thumbs up as
he went down the 101 and I continued along the 134 to home.
I reflected on that experience quite a bit and tried
lane-splitting a handful more times before deciding that it just isn’t my
style. I’ve been back riding now for about five years and have done it only on occasions
when riding with a group to keep up with them or a few times when a long wait
through controlled intersections could be avoided and there was a nice spacing
between lanes to the front for a good amount of time saved. I just don’t like
coming up between drivers and leap frogging them at the green to cut in front
of one or the other; I know it bugs drivers and that’s not my style. Also, I
have a working hypothesis that when I hear “motorcycle down” on traffic reports
at least 50% of the time it is when a rider was splitting lanes at high speed
or doing high speed weaves.
I reviewed the 50-state vehicle codes on this issue using a
great resource with an interactive map of the U.S. at: http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Rights/State-Laws.aspx?stateid=5
California is the only state to allow it with only a couple
of other states making any kind of note beyond “not allowed”. The California
Driver Handbook states it as “motorcycles can travel in the unused space
between two lines of moving or stationary vehicles.” On the AMA site referenced
above it simply states “Authorized per California Highway Patrol.”
Here are a couple of notable references from the AMA site;
Arkansas: “Not referenced in Administrative Code or Statutes.” Picture here the
Arkansas County Mounty, complete with campaign-hat pulled down to his eyebrows
and a wad of chew as he grins at you once he catches you… Michigan seems a bit convoluted
in what is allowed “Not authorized; "A person operating a motorcycle,
moped, low-speed vehicle, electric personal assistive mobility device, or
bicycle shall not pass between lines of traffic, but may pass on the left of
traffic moving in his or her direction in the case of a 2-way street, or on the
left or right of traffic in the case of a 1-way street, in an unoccupied lane.”
I think that if I ride to Michigan I’ll just stick to my lane and eat the time
instead of to try to figure that out.
My recommendation is to know the law of the land, find your style,
stick with it, become expert at it, to be vigilant at all times within your
style, and keep the iron side up. Dirty Harry said it pretty well, “A man’s got
to know his limitations.”
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