Ps very few bikers I see cares if it is a solid line or not. Lane splitting / sharing may be legal but crossing a solid white line is not.
I'm not going to argue with anybody who points out that doing something illegal is, in fact, illegal.
Going over the speed limit = illegal. Crossing a solid white line = illegal. Doing this in a car instead of on a bike = just as illegal.
When weaving between rows of cars the rule of thumb is to not go more than 30kmph faster than the speed of the moving traffic, and not more than 40kmph when weaving through stationary traffic. This is an unofficial word-of-mouth feeling amongst most bikers I know, not a hard-and-fast rule though, specifically because cars don't always look for us before changing lanes, or they did look and didn't see us. At night our one little moving headlight is sometimes hard to differentiate from the stationary headlights of the cars behind you. I also drive a car on occasion - I know how suddenly we seem to materialise behind or next to you.
If someone has changed lanes and is blocking the lane and it's genuinely not their fault, I don't have an issue with it. I'll wait, or I'll find another way around you.
However, many drivers are unaware that lane splitting is legal and take it upon themselves to "teach" us bikers a lesson by purposely blocking our way or refusing to move over in the lane so that we can pass inside the lane. This is also illegal.
As to the solid line - I will openly admit that I often cross the solid in order to pass cars. I am forced to do this because most of the cars do not keep to the left side of their lane and make it impossible for me to split past them inside the lane line. If I had to wait for every single vehicle in the queue to individually notice me and move over there would be no point to riding a bike in the first place. It would take forever. That being said - I will always try to keep as close to or on top of the white line as possible.
I would like to point out that bikers can be *******s. I drive carefully because I have a long distance to do every day and I'd like to stay alive. I have never smashed a mirror or kicked a car - this actually takes a fair amount of skill. A mirror has to be smashed a certain way using a certain part of your hand with a certain amount of force, or all it will result in is a broken hand or wrist for the biker.
On behalf of bikers everywhere, I would love to apologise to cars for the actions of the few bikers who destroy the reputation of the many of us who drive safely and respectfully.
