Newbie question about lane splitting

[prodigy]

so let's say there is a two lane freeway with a wide emergency lane on the right hand side. Freeway is full of cars..just packed. Do you have to ride in between the two lanes if you are going to split them or can you go sort of between the right hand lane and the emergency lane?

Hopefully that makes sense. For you SD people I'm talking about for example when the 56 merges onto the 5...that overpass area.

Thanks!

[GPTECHMAN]

cant go in the shoulder you can get a ticket. see it happen. Cant split everywhere

do a search there is a thread regarding some laws

[MotoFuzzle]

I'm pretty sure it stipulates that you have to split between two lanes moving in the same direction. I'd double check to be sure.

[UhOhErk]

emergency lane is always a no no, I have seen people get tickets also plus I wouldnt ride in them anyway there is a lot of dangerous stuff lying in those lanes sometimes.

[prodigy]

I'm not necessarily talking about just flying up the emergency lane, but riding like for example on the white line closest to the emergency lane. Sounds like this is illegal too. Hmm...thanks guys!

[FARTICUS]

CA law uses the term "lane sharing", and its kind of a self-definitive term. if you ride the middle btwn two lanes and while "splitting" pass over the broken whites it's technically a lane change.

but in any give situation its all up to the cop's [or judge's] discretion.


[edit] *I AM FARTICUS.

[TreAdidas]

From what I've seen/heard... the legality of lane sharing is in the eye of the beholder (judge/cop). So I've read lane sharing is not so much legal in CA it's that it is not expressly illegal. There are not laws on the books that say you can do it, there are just not any laws that say you cannot. Law enforrcement always has the tump card of the "Basic Speed Law" (CVC 22350)

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22350.htm

Given this lack of guidance from th epowers that be and a desire to still share lanes, I came up with my own code of conduct.

I will split between the lanes where there is traffic moving in the same direction on either side of me. That is there is a minimum of two lanes of traffic traveling in the same direction and there is dotted white line where I am sharing.
I will split at intersections when traffic is stopped and I have enough room to idle my way up to the front.

I will not split lanes where there is only one lane of traffic. (Think of splitting down 5th street downtown or up Garnet in PB, I just won't do it.... tried it, it felt unsafe, never again)
I will not split in construction zones
I will not split when there is a road hazard... ok story break... coming home from Vegas in a car. Guy decides to scale out onto an overpass in San Bernadino and contemplate ending his life. Traffic is shut down in both directions. The CHP was routing us over the overpass and back down onto the highway. That is all lanes of traffic must exit. Well this brought the 275 to a screeching hault. So some motorcyclist was putting through the middle the lanes, he got ticketed. I would have done the same thing so I thought wow new rule, no splitting during any type of road hazard.

[sdnative13]

in order to properly lane share you muct actually ride in a lane. not in between lanes or anythings else. u must actually be in a lane

[thisxgyrl]

i think its illegal to ride on the shoulder. but i make that 56 to the 5 commute during the work week and i just split lanes all the way. i actually start on the 56 because it gets backed up like crazy. :thumbsup:

[Dissident]

Yeah, you must be IN a lane, but there is no definition about which side, what direction the other lanes are, etc... Given the vagueness of it, a cop could say lane splitting between a car and the double yellow is "dangerous" so given that, I've come up with my own criteria:

I lane split when:
a) I want to
b) I have good visibility
c) I have enough room, lines be damned
d) The area I want to ride through is not dirty/gravely, etc
e) There's no cops around.

[cryptyk]

The most illegal lane-splitting is undoubtedly the safest - riding the double yellow between the fast lane and the carpool lane on the 15 and 5.
This way you know no one is [supposed to be] switching lanes into you [although they do anyways], and you have great visibility in these stretches.
Also the most illegal because you are essentially crossing the double yellow over and over and over and over.
But hey, the cops do it... I seen em.

[MotoFuzzle]

The most illegal lane-splitting is undoubtedly the safest - riding the double yellow between the fast lane and the carpool lane on the 15 and 5.
This way you know no one is [supposed to be] switching lanes into you [although they do anyways], and you have great visibility in these stretches.
Also the most illegal because you are essentially crossing the double yellow over and over and over and over.
But hey, the cops do it... I seen em.
I agree...it prolly is the safest splitting you can do, and it is very illegal. BUT, I've never been pulled over for doing it. Word is (here and in LA) that as long as you don't touch the double yellow, you'll be okay. If you touch it, CHP will pull you over in a heartbeat. But yeah, I've followed safely behind plenty of motoCHiPs there.

[essarty]

The most illegal lane-splitting is undoubtedly the safest - riding the double yellow between the fast lane and the carpool lane on the 15 and 5.
This way you know no one is [supposed to be] switching lanes into you [although they do anyways], and you have great visibility in these stretches.
Also the most illegal because you are essentially crossing the double yellow over and over and over and over.
But hey, the cops do it... I seen em.

isn't there debris in that little splitter? i'd be be wary of havin rocks, small sharp things, or just a bunch of dirt under me while on the freeway for consistent stretches.

[Averagejock]

The most illegal lane-splitting is undoubtedly the safest - riding the double yellow between the fast lane and the carpool lane on the 15 and 5.
This way you know no one is [supposed to be] switching lanes into you [although they do anyways], and you have great visibility in these stretches.
Also the most illegal because you are essentially crossing the double yellow over and over and over and over.
But hey, the cops do it... I seen em.

Certainly, Ive ridden behind a CHP biker for around 15 miles in between the carpool and fast lane on highway 5. So yea, its all up to the cop. I think that if you are being safe, a judge would have a hard time giving you a fine.