Why Laneshare?
Q: Why do we use the term, “Lane-Sharing”?
A: Whether you call it lane-sharing, lane-splitting, white-lining or filtering, it’s more or less all the same. We choose to label the practice “lane-sharing” because it recognizes the needed cooperation between the motorcyclist and the other road users for the practice to be successful. Further, “lane-sharing” is a more social term than “lane-splitting” or “white-lining”. “Filtering” is probably more accurate at describing the true action of the practice, but we’ll be using “lane-sharing” on this site.
Q: Why do we need lane-sharing in the first place?
A: As it’s practiced in California, lane-sharing offers a way to reduce congestion by creating an additional lane for motorcyclists to use when traffic is stopped or slow moving. It conserves energy in two ways. First, it keeps the motorcyclist and other traffic, to a lesser degree, moving. A moving vehicle is more energy efficient than a stopped vehicle plus the commute time is reduced further reducing energy use. Second, it promotes the motorcycle as an alternative form of transportation. Motorcycles get between 35-90 mpg which beats the average car, SUV, or light truck by a huge margin. Lane-sharing may actually be safer for the motorcyclist than being sandwiched between two larger vehicles in stop-and-go traffic. Additionally, some motorcycles (particularly air-cooled) don’t do well in a stopped or slow moving environment and must keep moving to avoid engine damage.
David Hough; Moto-journalist
As a veteran motorcyclist and motorcycle journalist specializing in
riding skills, I'll go on record in favor of lane sharing being a viable
concept. There may not be as many motorcyclists in the WA traffic mix as
there could be, but there are more than a few, and many are year-round
commuters. Every person on a bike is one less driver in a 4-wheeler.
These days CA traffic in the LA basin and around San Francisco is so
congested that bikes are a definite "alternate vehicle", and lane
sharing allows the same number of 4-wheelers with an increase in the
number of 2-wheelers. Puget Sound traffic is rapidly becoming as
congested as in LA or SF.
The obvious advantage to drivers in general is that more
non-motorcyclists get to occupy the available space. I agree that
research is the key to making this a reality. When the "Hurt Report" was
done back in the late 1970's, traffic in CA was milder, and there was
less need to share lanes. So, there is little data in the report to give
us clues about the "safety" of lane sharing.
IMHO, (and if you need my credentials I'll be glad to provide them) the
risks are not increased by lane sharing, provided that other drivers
accept the practice, and motorcyclists understand the "rules."
Andy Goldfine, organizer,
Ride to Work Day
A useful lane-sharing metaphor is a bucket of baseballs. Lots of marbles
fit nicely in the interstices between the baseballs and softballs. If we
as a culture want increasingly convenient automobility, then lane
sharing is one small way to make our world work better. Building
ever-larger buckets is very costly. Fitting more balls into the buckets
we have might be worth trying. Particularly since this has already
worked so well for so long in so many other places.
Filtering to the front at intersections works without problems
everywhere that it is done - legally or not. Riders do it every day in
both Lower Manhattan and Malaysia.
The principle of encouraging the wider adoption of less consumptive and
more efficient forms of automobility is far more important that the
actual numbers of individuals benefiting, or any quantification of
benefits. (It is not important how many disabled persons use a
particular handicapped parking space, just that those spaces be there
for the one person needing such a space at a particular moment in time.)
The safety of lane sharing and filtering is hard to prove because it is
behavioral. All behaviors (sociological, psychological, etc. ) are a
challenge to understand empirically. Look at some related
considerations: Cars average 15,000 miles of mostly utility use per
year. Motorcycles average about 1,800 miles of mostly 'entertainment'
use per year. With Aircraft (private and commercial), pilot flight hours
logged are an extremely strong predictor of how likely a plane will stay
up in the sky. Riding and driving (and most other human activities) is
exactly the same. Motorbikes are mostly used to get ice cream on Sunday
and liquor on Saturday night. Cars are mostly used to get groceries and
go to work every day. Motorcycle officers who ride 50,000 miles a year
do not have a 'safety' problem. Neither do professional motorcycle
couriers. Or the average car driver... Mining safety-related data to
establish that lane sharing works safely will be difficult. World-wide
(and within the United States) local driving cultures vary far more than
traffic regulations do. Lane sharing is a lot more about cultural and
behavioral issues than it is about statistics and safety. Every state
needs to try this...on the presumption that giving citizens this
specific freedom is a reflection of our faith in each other, and in the
future of automobility. This is what civilization does sometimes (or
should do...).
-- previously requested that Rep Jeff Morris float a bill to allow lane-sharing in WA
Here are some of the points I try to make when extolling the virtues of lane sharing:
1. You are building roads for nothing. Every bike between the lanes is one more spot for a car at no cost to the taxpayer.
2. It encourages more people to consider bikes as viable transportation. Every bike used SAVES FUEL! Every bike consumes far less resources to manufacture compared to any car.
3. If more people ride motorcycles to work and they can lane share, the commute may be sped up.
4. California’s long experience with it has demonstrated both the safety and the merits of lane sharing.
Nick Ienatsch. Sport Riding Techniques
Page 112
...understand that the California Highway Patrol (CHP) regards lane sharing as a “good thing” because it reduces congestion. Every rider I know is thankful for lane sharing, so it’s important that we don’t abuse it to the point we can no longer enjoy it legally.
Amy Holland; Editor, Friction Zone. “Laws for Motorcyclists.” October 2005.
In all my experiences lanesplitting, only once did I have someone intentionally block my path. It really didn’t matter, because it didn’t take long before I was able to get around them anyway. My experiences has almost always been positive – when they realize I’m there, most motorists give me extra room by moving to the edge of their lane. They are not required or obligated to do this, so when they do (and if I can), I give them a “Thank you!” wave.
Mary R. Lee; Motorcyclist; WA
A year later, I joined a group of riders going to Monterey, CA. This trip was uneventful except for the last 15 miles. The traffic came to a standstill, and I started out cautiously between cars. After a moment, I noticed that the cars made extra space for motorcyclists by moving to the far side of their respective lanes. A minute later, my speed had picked up a bit as my comfort level increased. Every car was respectful of our space.
April First; Motorcyclist; WA
I generally don’t feel the need to “share lanes” while I’m on my bike as my commute times have pretty good traffic flow. But when there’s an accident or an event downtown and traffic’s not moving, then that’s where sharing comes into play. Slow- or non-moving vehicles present slight danger, and I constantly scan for possible situations. I have never had anything bad happen to me while threading carefully between two rows of cars. I’ve saved a huge amount of time and I cause very little inconvenience to those whom I pass by. By allowing motorcycles to share lanes, there is that many less vehicles left behind to impede the flow of traffic.