Biker visibility

MightyQuin said:
Lane splitting is BS and it should be banned. Bikers love having their cake AND eating it. The problem is that bikers demand to be treated like they are driving a car, but feel they do not have to behave like they are driving a car.
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How does lane splitting affect your daily commute? I can imagine people who are against this to be the same spiteful kind of people who totally block bikers to prevent them from passing.
 
I average about 100km a day on my bike. I do a lot of lane splitting.

The thing to remember when doing that, the squishy factor. You're a lot more squishy than any car hitting you so keep your fooking eyes open and try to think ahead like in a chess game.

In 15 years of riding I've only ever had 2 falls/accidents. Both here on the farm while screwing around with an off-road away from any traffic
 
MightyQuin said:
Drive behind me or in front of me so I can see you, quite simple really. And please, forget about the "I am trying to avoid getting crushed between 2 vehicles, that is why I lane split" BS excuse.
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Except this fact has been proven in multiple countries. So its only your opinion of the matter that is BS
 
MightyQuin said:
LIn peak traffic, we all move at 10km's per hour. But then the biker loves to claim his right to lane split and weave through traffic and don't dare to impede him accidentally...then you are a prick for "caging him in". Then mirrors get punched and cars get scratched while the coward speeds away.
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If you cage a biker in accidentally and he damages your car, he is a total ****. However, if you cage him in intentionally because you are a disgruntled motorist stuck in traffic and he is not, you're the prick.
 
Tux said:
The thing to remember when doing that, the squishy factor. You're a lot more squishy than any car hitting you so keep your fooking eyes open and try to think ahead like in a chess game.
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Yep, as the vulnerable one, do not depend on cars to look out for you, you need to me so much more vigilant.
 
Slootvreter said:
How does lane splitting affect your daily commute? I can imagine people who are against this to be the same spiteful kind of people who totally block bikers to prevent them from passing.
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I have no problem with it, but when i then hit a biker because he/she was lane splitting at high speeds, I hope their funeral plan also covers the panel beating on my car.

If you lane split at high speeds you are in effect causing the normal flow of traffic to be disrupted as when I put on my indicator to change lanes and I then see a safe space to do it in it should not need to include an extra calculation for bikers lane splitting at 100-120km/h. Other than this I have no problem with them doing it, more bikes = less traffic.
 
Devill said:
I have no problem with it, but when i then hit a biker because he/she was lane splitting at high speeds, I hope their funeral plan also covers the panel beating on my car.

If you lane split at high speeds you are in effect causing the normal flow of traffic to be disrupted as when I put on my indicator to change lanes and I then see a safe space to do it in it should not need to include an extra calculation for bikers lane splitting at 100-120km/h. Other than this I have no problem with them doing it, more bikes = less traffic.
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Yep, a biker doing 80 while you are crawling at 10 is looking for trouble. Some common sense should also be exercised by them.
 
Archer said:
Lets dissect this properly
Its more dangerous for a bike to occupy the middle of a lane in traffic - collisions from the rear in slow traffic result in more deaths than splitting. Also, many scooters get bullied into riding in the gutter when they occupy the space of a car, also leading to more accidents
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These collisions are obviously problematic. So who's at fault? The fool who does not keep a safe following distance. Obviously that is still needed.

Impossible to see them? Do you not use your mirrors?
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Blind spot?
Yes they're often impossible to see. They're either going faster than the cars which is very common. Or because of the turns in the road and traffic they are obscured from view more than 3-4 cars away.

They travel at speed - a safe rider knows to only go 20km/h faster than the surrounding traffic when splitting. If someone is going faster than that, its the added speed that is inherently dangerous, not the splitting.
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Safe is subjective. So how much is a safe speed differential? And under what conditions? And is it not also driver dependent? When the view is obscured going 20km/h can get the biker into trouble.

You drift into the vehicles around you? :wtf: Are you that lady whose mirror I clipped when she closed the gap suddenly? I stopped to apologise and provide my insurance details, but the lady just kept driving (I think the phone in her hand was more interesting).
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No. I don't drift outside of the lane. But because of the traffic, and fools on bikes you have to keep the exact position INSIDE the lane. Drifting outside of the lane is obviously dangerous.

Oh and don't get me started on the fool bikers who drive to the left side, in the emergency lane.
 
Slootvreter said:
Yep, a biker doing 80 while you are crawling at 10 is looking for trouble. Some common sense should also be exercised by them.
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No. If the speed limit is 80km/h and heavy traffic causes the cars to go at 10km/h there is no reason for the biker to reduce speed. He after all has a straight line of sight mini lane ahead of him. Safety is for sissies.

At least if he gets knocked off his bike cars going at 10km/h will be able to avoid him.
 
Slootvreter said:
How does lane splitting affect your daily commute? I can imagine people who are against this to be the same spiteful kind of people who totally block bikers to prevent them from passing.
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And how would NOT lane splitting affect YOUR daily commute? Oh wait, I know: it would mean that you would also have to sit in traffic and we would not have to be extra vigilant so as not to cage you in accidentally, that is if we want to get to work with all our vehicles appendages intact.

Lane splitting is not about safety, it is about bikers wanting to get to the front of the qeue, whilst demanding that everybody be on the lookout for them, since they are so vulnerable.

So, don't lane split and then complain when you get knocked off your bike by accident. Don't lane split and then go all Mad Max when you are accidentally caged in or somebody accidentally drifts over into your lane.

Also don't think that just 'cos you may be the consumate lane spliiting pro, that ALL bikers are. Au contraire...most lane splitting k@k are caused by the fact that every second Tom, Dick & Harry are buying poegies and waving through traffic.
 
MightyQuin said:
anting to get to the front of the qeue, whilst demanding that everybody be on the lookout for them, since they are so vulnerable.

So, don't lane split and then complain when you get knocked off your bike by accident. Don't lane split and then go all Mad Max when you are accidentally caged in or somebody accidentally drifts over into your lane.
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The median strip is not a lane. That's the thing. How much space should drivers leave for bikes? For cars it's easy, it's keep the lane open. As long as we stay IN OUR LANE we're fine. But now a lane has to constantly accommodate a car and a bike.
 
MightyQuin said:
And how would NOT lane splitting affect YOUR daily commute? Oh wait, I know: it would mean that you would also have to sit in traffic and we would not have to be extra vigilant so as not to cage you in accidentally, that is if we want to get to work with all our vehicles appendages intact.
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Lol? Sloot doesn't ride a bike.

Also extra vigilant? In our current day and age, people don't even check for cars. Let alone bikes.
 
Space_Chief said:
No. If the speed limit is 80km/h and heavy traffic causes the cars to go at 10km/h there is no reason for the biker to reduce speed. He after all has a straight line of sight mini lane ahead of him. Safety is for sissies.

At least if he gets knocked off his bike cars going at 10km/h will be able to avoid him.
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What?
 
MightyQuin said:
Also don't think that just 'cos you may be the consumate lane spliiting pro, that ALL bikers are. Au contraire...most lane splitting k@k are caused by the fact that every second Tom, Dick & Harry are buying poegies and waving through traffic.
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Got to give you that. They also irritate the crap out of those of us with bikes that have been doing it for years. Nothing like getting buzzed by a school laaitie on his pink schooter that daddy bought him.

Which in turn leads to some of the generalizations seen in this thread about the k@k bikers.
 
XennoX said:
Lol? Sloot doesn't ride a bike.

Also extra vigilant? In our current day and age, people don't even check for cars. Let alone bikes.
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I was using "you" in the general sense, referring to bikers. And regarding your "extra vigilant" nitpick.....so you think lane splitting is safer than not doing it, based on your general observation re. vigilance on our roads?
 
MightyQuin said:
And how would NOT lane splitting affect YOUR daily commute? Oh wait, I know: it would mean that you would also have to sit in traffic and we would not have to be extra vigilant so as not to cage you in accidentally, that is if we want to get to work with all our vehicles appendages intact.
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It would probably not affect my daily commute, other than having to leave for my destination the same time as I would have to with a car. But besides the time factor, imagine how backed up the traffic would be if every biker takes the space of a car. It does actually make a difference. And being extra vigilant is not because of bikes, you just have to be because you're driving. Bikers need to be even MORE vigilant, because of their vulnerability. Thus far, I'm pretty sure paying extra attention in a car has not fried your brain before you got to work?
 
I get the feeling this is more about being pissed off about sitting in traffic and the biker is merrily along his way to work. Who knows,
 
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