Berkeley proves lane splitting safe.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak


It is about 2 to 3 times as fast as the average Calgarian, haha.... honestly I want to poke my eyes out with the way people accelerate up to speed here. It is lucky if they hit the speed limit by the next light!

fucking anderson between deerfoot and 24th st... i rarely get to 70km/h... even on off hours

Originally posted by Sugarphreak

Yeah I would literally go out and get a bike tomorrow if it became legal.... no more getting stuck behind people at light? Sign me up.

its amazing, just always moving, dont have to clutch in and out non-stop.. able to just coast too so you hit every damn green... its kind of like riding a bicycle downtown... but you dont get sweaty

[16hypen3sp]

Originally posted by Mibz
I'm not a lawyer but after going over the law I'd say there are ample ways a judge could say you've done something illegal for filtering or lane splitting.

First off, 23(a) and (b) prohibit using the shoulder, which means you need to be within a traffic lane at all times, so keep that in mind when reading the below.

21(1)(a) mentions "safe distance", which isn't specified anywhere. It's unlikely you're gonna be more than a foot from a car if you're in the same lane as them and that's an easy one to claim against you.

22(1)(b)(i) just specifies "sufficient width for 2 or more lines of moving vehicles", but a judge could easily say that "vehicle" means car and that having sufficient width for a line of cars and a line of motorcycles doesn't count.

22(2)(a) says that if there are 2 or more lanes in the same direction, there must be an available lane for you to pass somebody. If there were an available lane you wouldn't be splitting.

So yeah. It's not explicitly prohibited, but it's also not explicitly allowed, and there are a handful of ways it could be spun that you've broken the law. Not worth the risk, IMO.

Look at this though - from use of highway and rules of the road reg. Section 15 Subsection 6

(6) A person driving a vehicle shall not drive the vehicle in such a manner so that the vehicle occupies space in 2 traffic lanes

(a) except during the act of passing another vehicle or changing lanes, or
(b) unless road conditions make the use of a single traffic lane impractical.

Almost seems like its totally allowing it???

[Mibz]

Originally posted by 16hypen3sp
Look at this though - from use of highway and rules of the road reg. Section 15 Subsection 6

Almost seems like its totally allowing it???

My interpretation of 6a is that it was introduced to allow your car to occupy two lanes while passing somebody on a 2 lane undivided highway, where the lanes may be wide enough for you to safely keep two wheels in your lane instead of going all the way into oncoming. Or maybe when passing a bicycle or motorcycle where you only need to move 1/2 a lane over instead of doing a full lane change.

At least that's my interpretation of the spirit of that law. I doubt you'd be able to successfully use that as a defense. Even if you did, best case scenario is that you get away with it that one time and the law is quietly amended to explicitly ban it.

[codetrap]

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[Tik-Tok]

I still just don't understand why bike riders think that they should have a special set of rules for the road.

[codetrap]

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[ercchry]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
I still just don't understand why bike riders think that they should have a special set of rules for the road.

i still dont understand the entitlement some drivers have... like today, some fucking house wife in her full sized gm suv was tailgating the guy in front of her, i was signaling to get over so i could exit the damn road and she just didnt want to let me in, i forced my way over, she changed lanes to where i was as i was exiting... and she was fucking livid!

the other day my buddy was biking (cycle) down elbow and he was approaching the light as it turned green and passed some woman in a car.. she actively went out of her way to pass him, then slow down and force him into the curb till he crashed, then she took off.

whats the point of all of this? well... when you are on something that offers 0 protection from bodily harm you take all of the precautions to NOT get hit by dumb fucking entitled drivers... including escaping between the lines of cars so they cannot rear end you, or sideswipe you cause they just cant be bothered to check their fucking mirrors. always be moving at a mildly faster pass, and dont sit waiting for someone to hit you and you'll survive.. dont? well then you are putting your life in other people's hands... and frankly they just dont give a fuck about you.

[Hallowed_point]

^ Never thought I'd say it, but I 100% agree with erchhry on that comment.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Originally posted by codetrap
I've tried filtering a few times in the past week. It's definitely a location specific thing. I've had one vehicle actively pull in to close the gap on me. So, something to watch out for. Have to admit though, yesterday it was nice and cut my commute down by a lot because I didn't have to wait for 2 lights to get through some particularly slow intersections.

Not worried about being caught by the cops?

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by codetrap
Care to elaborate?

Lane filtering and splitting obviously, also parking on the sidewalk.

[codetrap]

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[bjstare]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
I still just don't understand why bike riders think that they should have a special set of rules for the road.

Well, if you'd notice the differences between a motorcycle and a car (there are a couple small ones if you look hard enough), it makes sense that you might not treat them exactly the same.

As it pertains to filtering, it's a win win for car drivers and bike riders alike. I don't see why some people can't understand this.


edit: For parking on the sidewalk, I'm not entirely supportive of bikes doing this. Its easy to see why they do it, and can get away with it (again, notice the size difference. A bike is smaller than a smart car), but once you get to the point of 10 bikes sitting somewhere, it's the same as a couple cars, then you might as well be parking cars there.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Originally posted by cjblair


Well, if you'd notice the differences between a motorcycle and a car (there are a couple small ones if you look hard enough), it makes sense that you might not treat them exactly the same.

As it pertains to filtering, it's a win win for car drivers and bike riders alike. I don't see why some people can't understand this.

Calgary car drivers "me-first attitude" makes it hard to see past. I know I'm guilty of this when I'm driving (not against bikes, but against other cars).