Seeing a lot of lane filtering in the news lately...

[Was 1983 Z28]

... So I thought I'd come out of RS retirement to share some of it in the hopes we might get more support for lane filtering during this election cycle: It?s time to allow lane-filtering to increase motorcyclist safety | The Province

[CCA-Dave]

From a traffic flow perspective, I'm all for it. From a rider perspective, even if it were legal, I can't imagine trying it in BC. Idiot drivers who already have zero comprehension of their surroundings aren't going to suddenly start using their mirrors or leave space for motorcyclists to move forwards.

[DKaz]

Going 10-15 km/h through gridlock traffic is not going to kill anyone. That's like half the speed of what cyclists do.

[604STIG]

Originally Posted by CCA-Dave

I can't imagine trying it in BC. Idiot drivers who already have zero comprehension of their surroundings aren't going to suddenly start using their mirrors or leave space for motorcyclists to move forwards.

I'd fully support this initiative. But if it ever became an actual thing I wouldn't expect people to just start leaving gaps and start using their mirrors right away either. Slowly as it becomes more common place to see riders lane split, the general public would naturally become more aware over time. Even then I would only do it if it seemed absolutely safe to do so at that given time. But the first step, either way, would be to have the law passed, then consider using it or not.

[Dharminder]

Lane filtering would be a great thing to be able to do legally. Most important thing for myself and I am sure other riders feel the same way is getting to the front of the pack that way you do not get hit from behind while waiting for a light because some person is busy on there phone and not paying attention.

As mentioned in the article even if allowed to ride up the shoulder might be a bit safer. Most drivers would probably not leave adequate space for a motorcycle to slide into, or simple just be pissed and purposely not leave safe with the mentality of "if I have to wait so do you"

Hopefully this is gets pushed threw and then leave it to the riders discretion if they want to filter or not.

[Dharminder]

This appears to be a topic that comes up every spring in general and the government just seems to spend money on studies but nothing comes from it.

I would be in full support of lane filtering and basically be safe out on the roads knowing that there is a good chance i wont be hit from behind.

[!Yaminashi]

I'm of both minds. I want it to be legal, but I know every other driver out there is a complete idiot.

Maybe if filtering were legal it may force people to be more aware? (or at least we can hope)

[DKaz]

Lane filtering is at less than bicycle speeds, no one's going to get hurt at those speeds.

[Jas29]

i'm with DKaz only filter at low speeds

[corollagtSr5]

lol I remember the heated debate on this topic. You basically do it when the light turns red to get in front of everyone or when there's heavy traffic. Your not suppose to lane split going the speed limit lol. Making it legal also puts the liability on the idiots who don't use their mirrors when changing lanes. Would dash cam for sure if you make a habit of using this technique.

[underscore]

Considering how few riders I see wearing proper gear I'm having a hard time believing it would be done properly.

[dustyco]

I can speak from experience on this. I rode a bike while living in the Los Angeles area for a few years and in California lane splitting is legal. Even at speed on busy roads it is legal to ride between lanes. It is definitely scary and dangerous if you are being reckless, but when traffic is stopped or slow I think it is extremely safe and really valuable.

Since moving to Vancouver I can say with certainty it is the worst place I have ever had to drive. I would love to get on a bike again, due to numerous reasons I haven't, but something that I'm not really pumped about is the lack of lane splitting / filtering. Riding a motorcycle is fun, but other than the fuel economy there aren't that many advantages, and many disadvantages to being on a bike. If filtering were legal it would really help to tilt my interest toward getting a bike purely based on the incentive of getting around town faster during congested times. If there are other people like me that would get motorcycles if this came into effect, we could start to bring more people on to two wheels. In my opinion, the more people on two wheels the better. They take up way less space both on the road and parking, along with producing significantly less emissions. I think it needs to be legalized.

[Sunfighter]

I love the concept of lane-splitting. In practice, in this city, it would terrify me. it would take 10 - 20 years of heavy educational campaigning to ensure that drivers understood the concept and provided the due courtesy necessary to make it successful and safe.

I lived much of my life in the UK and it works because, frankly, the quality of drivers is dramatically better. Massively stricter licensing and MOTs mean the quality of drivers, and cars, are much better than here.

Again - love the idea in concept. In practice, it scares me.

[vexor]

From the shitty drivers thread. This is why we need lane filtering here

YouTube (Short URL)

[Hehe]

I might be biased due to my experience of riding in Taiwan, but I see lane filtering totally fine as long as there's a clearly defined rule because without proper rules, we'd end up like Taiwan where bikes just fit any and everywhere.

To have motorcycles to take up big chunk of spaces (especially in the summer, where congestion is already at its peak) is stupid.

Just reserve a small section before every red light and allow multiple bikes to stop side-by-side and let them skip through the roads. You could fit at least 3 bikes safely in the same space occupied by a single vehicle. Why make it so that it has to occupy 3 spaces instead of 1?

[stewie]

My opinion:


You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.


I find many risk factors involved on both sides but the main one that sticks out to me the most is negligence. Whether it's on the drivers side or not.

I'll accept the risk of 1 car to stop behind me while I've left myself a 20ft+ gap between the car in front of me for an emergency escape zone if need be. Once they've stopped along with the car behind them I'll slowly creep forwards to tighten the gap rather than risk going between 20+ cars and trucks slaloming between bigger trucks mirrors and hoping that one of those 20+ car's doesn't have an idiot of a driver who's going to try to change lanes at a complete stop, swing a door open for some random reason, or rest their elbow on the door and throw their entire arm out the window.

If people want to lane filter feel free to do it. I don't feel comfortable doing it in a city that has such piss poor drivers.

[subordinate]

I don't think I have enough balls to lane filter in Vancouver.

I already have/predicted enough close calls in my short riding career