[imabotbeep2937]

Lane splitting motorcycles and bicyclists are literally always illegal btw.

Lane splitting is for air cooled engines stuck in traffic, where they literally need to move or shut down. (It is technically illegal to park the vehicle with engine shut off in case you can't restart). It has absolutely never been legal for anyone to shoot through gaps in traffic because of erectile dysfunction compensation. It is only in the absolute emergency that you need to walk your bike around to keep it from melting.

In general I do agree. Campaigns to "see motorcycles" just end up with 80yo biker gangs thinking it's okay yo blast their engines in residential. Campaigns to "share the road" lead to bicyclists who will absolutely charge an SUV just to get on the news. I'm all for road safety but it absolutely requires bike clubs of all types to stop being twits.

[shkkmo]

This is false.

California passed AB 51 in 2016 which codified lane splitting under California law. There is no mention of "air cooling". There are guidelines that say you should not go more than 10 mph faster than traffic and not faster than 50 mph total.

[Mordisquitos]

> Lane splitting motorcycles and bicyclists are literally always illegal btw.

Maybe in the United States of America. There are a great many developed countries where lane splitting by motorcycles and bicycles is not only legal, but even expected and encouraged.

[paulnpace]

At least as early as 2002, the MSF in California taught that lane sharing is legal in California.

[gertlex]

I'm piling on at this point, but I appreciate that this got me to go read and learn a few more things (that the internet says are true, anyways).

Lane splitting has never been illegal in CA, but is apparently illegal in all other US states. (Having been in CA for about 10 years, I've gotten used to it, but think it's still crazy. Definitely have seen it on highways in the midwest before that, too)

This link was informative: https://www.kqed.org/news/11680481/10-things-you-need-to-kno...

Basically, not illegal; the 2016 law passed just said, "CA Highway Patrol can make guidelines", which was in response to a previous attempt by the CHP to give those guidelines. Helpfully the article includes those guidelines, too.

[throw0101b]

> Lane splitting has never been illegal in CA, but is apparently illegal in all other US states.

Splitting and filtering are legal in other US states:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_splitting#Legal_status_in...

[bsder]

When traffic is really slow, lane splitting is really useful. A splitting motorcycle can easily be moving 2x to 3x the speed of cars sitting in a jam.

However, I agree that lane splitting gets more and more dangerous as traffic starts flowing faster.

[throw0101b]

> Lane splitting motorcycles and bicyclists are literally always illegal btw.

The state of of California would disagree with you:

* https://www.chp.ca.gov/programs-services/programs/california...

As would several others:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_splitting#Legal_status_in...

[tayo42]

Lane splitting in California is legal for motorcycles

[fyrn_]

No one is charging your SUV on a bike to "get on the news" that's borderline delusional. If you seriously think this is real my advice is to try biking on a shared road. Survival instincts will show you the truth of that concept.