It’s almost disheartening seeing that some riders disregard some of the basic, common sense facts about road safety… and their own safety and well-being. A lot of accidents occur when splitting lanes because of drivers reckless enough to change lanes without checking their mirrors, and it was more than once when a passenger opened a door in front of a bike prior to checking whether this move was safe.
Still, when we introduce a reckless motorcycle rider in the equation, chances for a very stupid crash are skyrocketing. And the video after the jump is probably the best proof to back my words. Indeed, such videos should be showed to motorcycle students in their road safety classes. This is really a textbook accident which, like many others, could have easily been avoided.
While the police and administration in certain countries and states seem to have understood that line splitting is good for decongesting traffic, some common sense rules must apply, and the most important is not speeding like an idiot between the lanes of slow or stopped vehicles.
In fact, the California Highway Patrol says that riding between the lanes is good and safe if done according to the following “guidelines”:
1. If you split lanes, make sure you ride no more than 10 mph faster than the traffic (16 km/h)
2. If traffic moves at more than 30 mph (48 km/h), you should not split lanes
3. It's safer to split lanes 1 and 2
4. Look around you carefully before deciding to split lanes
5. Keep in mind that other road users might not be aware of you coming between the lanes.
Now read numbers 1 and 5 again and watch the video…
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