2WheeledTN

I'm planning a trip to California this year and been doing a little reading on lane splitting.
I can't wait!!

I swipped this off Motorcycle Online.



Lane Splitting: Tear Along Dotted LineThink passing cars between is reckless and inconsiderate? We beg to disagree. But there are some things to know before you start. By Art Friedman.

I had called USC's Accident Research Department to talk to Dave Thom about helmets, but Harry Hurt answered the phone. Hurt, the lead author of the famous "Hurt Report" about the causes of motorcycle accidents, is arguably the most knowledgeable expert in the area of motorcycle safety and always fascinating to talk to.
Today, however, the news wasn't pleasant. Hurt had been rear-ended and had required surgery on his neck. His brand new truck suffered major damage too. "The stupid part," said Hurt, "was that if I'd been on a motorcycle, I wouldn't have had the accident. I would have split lanes and never gotten hit."
Everyone recognizes that lane-splitting is a way for motorcyclists to save time, which may be why car-bound motorists sometimes resent it. In its defense, lane-splitting also reduces congestion and actually helps everyone get there sooner. In effect, it creates an extra lane. That "motorcycle-only lane" can, as Hurt points out, get you away from the antics of cars, which tend to be most violent at the back of the line. I was originally a reluctant lane-splitter myself, but after diving between lanes to escape screeching cars coming up behind me three times in a single ride, I decided that perhaps there was a cosmic message in there somewhere. That was 25 years ago, and I have been lane-splitting, mostly on a non-emergency basis, almost every day since.
The knee-jerk reaction to lane-splitting for most people is that it's dangerous. In fact, Hurt and his fellow researchers discovered that, if anything, it's actually slightly safer than staying in the lane in heavy, crawling traffic. Hurt theorizes that this is because motorcyclists have an easier time steering around threats than stopping frequently. Evans Brafield, Motorcycle Cruiser's Associate Editor and an instructor for the California Motorcycle Safety Program California Motorcycle Safety Program, reckons that the ability the see ahead and get early warning of what traffic is doing is part of the advantage. Certainly, you put virtually all the threats ahead of you and needn't watch your mirrors much.
At Motorcycle Cruiser and our sister magazines, Motorcyclist magazine and Sport Rider magazine, lane-splitting is a way of life. Here in Southern California, rational lane-splitting is tolerated by law enforcement, and the CHP actually testified against a bill that would have banned it several years ago. In a quarter-century of SoCal commuting, I reckon I have reduced the time I have spent in traffic by months, and I can't recall a single close call while doing it. In fact, I haven't ticked more than half a dozen mirrors in that time. In the last few years, the growing availability of carpool lanes has reduced the need to lane-split on freeways, but increased congestion on surface streets has made it more useful there.
The dangers involved in lane splitting are the close proximity of other vehicles, the limited space for maneuvering and the fact that few drivers anticipate your presence. My standard visibility ploys--headlight on high beam during the day and a day-glow orange Shoei helmet--serve me well lane-splitting as in other traffic situations, but the key to painless lane-splitting is understanding the dynamics of the cars around you and knowing what to expect. For example, though you may feel more squeezed when passing between two vehicles side by side, you are more likely to get bunted when overtaking a car that has an open space next to it, especially if the lane on the other side of you is moving significantly faster. If the driver tries to jump to that space, he may forget to check for you. Whether lane-splitting or not, use caution when riding through the blind spot of a driver when you are between him and a place he is likely to want to put his car.