Lane Splitting in Laguna Beach, CA

[kopskup]

not that it matters but just FYI the zeros u used in the date at the beginning r actually letters in dennmark and norway its same as ö here where I live

[hpotter1097]

Lane splitting is legal in California, but still must be done safely. In this vid, the lanes were too narrow for motorcyclists to split lanes safely, so they remained in lanes.

The 2 cyclists in this vid were riding pretty skillfully, obviously, they had done this before. I've personally only ridden like this when traffic is almost at a standstill; the primary danger then is avoiding turning traffic, dodging large truck mirrors, or opening car doors.

[KPKaccountt]

since when does lane splitting become illegal outside california ? what year ?

[CyclistLorax]

@KPKaccountt - Most states have laws explicitly prohibiting driving between lanes or requiring driving within a single lane. For example, here is UVC section 11-1303....(c) No person shall operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles.

And section 11-309. Whenever any roadway has been divided into two or more clearly marked lanes for traffic ...(a) A vehicle shall be driven as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane...

[CyclistLorax]

@KPKaccountt - The police in CA allow motorcyclists and bicyclists to do it, though CVC 21658 could be interpreted to exclude such practice. In every other US state laws like the ones I cited from the Uniform Vehicle Code, which serves as the model for most US states, are enforced to prohibit the practice. Look at the DMV websites of most US states and they show the practice to be illegal. California is the exception among US states. Check out the wiki article on lane splitting for more.

[KPKaccountt]

@CyclistLorax lol i believe that,i mean since when ?

[CyclistLorax]

@KPKaccountt - Apparently you don't understand the answer I gave, since "lol i believe that,i mean since when ?" is a child's response to factual information. My mistake.

[LevinMedia]

@CyclistLorax Just because the law allows it doesn't mean it's a good idea. When you combine your attitude of entitlement (displayed in your replies below) with oblivious drivers, you're asking for trouble, which you're getting. Frankly, I can't understand cyclists infatuation with PCH in Laguna... Glenneyre parallels PCH one block inland and it's normally devoid of traffic and parked cars. It's not like you get some view of the beach on PCH that you don't get on Glenneyre.

[CyclistLorax]

@LevinMedia - The CHP and motorcyclists are comfortable with lane splitting and frankly, it not a big deal. Lane splitting is not a common practice, except in urban cores and a few highways like PCH. Trouble? Did you watch the video? We didn't have any trouble. Regarding your hostility about route selection, it's the purview of the legislature to tell cyclists where we can ride. PCH is less hilly and faster than Gleneyre so I consistently use it; that's pragmatism, not infatuation.

[CyclistLorax]

@LevinMedia - What you call entitlement, I call rights. I ride where I'm legally allowed, and typically choose rotes that are direct and low risk, and I expect others to respect my choices, just as I respect theirs to use other routes and/or different behaviors. You can ride on Glenneyre, or in Peoria if you like, and never split when traffic jams; that's your decision, and your decisions have nothing to do with me and my choices.

[djbroncoroc]

also tell me how this is cool...at all?

[CyclistLorax]

@djbroncoroc - I never said it was cool. It's simply a method to pass a very long queue of congested traffic.

[spdrecrd]

Imagine that road if it was all bicycles on it instead of all of those parked cars...

[SinfulMessiah]

I live in Laguna and cyclists are often times an outright hazard. They hog lanes slowing traffic which causes vehicles to abruptly change lanes.

[CyclistLorax]

@SinfulMessiah - In this video, the motorists were "hogging" the lanes, not the cyclists who were carefully passing all the trapped hogs! I find it rather amusing that a video showing cyclists not slowing anyone, in an environment dominated by motorists hogging the road, illicits a response complaining about cyclists "hogging' the road. SinfulMessiah is guilty of a double standard; he doesn't see motorists hogging, only cyclist hogging...

[SinfulMessiah]

@CyclistLorax I wasn't referring to lane splitting. I was talking about cyclists who ride in the middle of a lane slowing down traffic significantly. Thats what hogging the rode is and it happens in Laguna all the time. Just because you have a right to ride in a lane doesn't necessarily make it ok at the expense of everyone else.

[CyclistLorax]

@SinfulMessiah - Lane splitting or not, motorists hog the road and jam it for miles on weekend days. This is a much larger disruption than a cyclist controlling a lane, which is both legal, and safer than riding in the double hazard zone (door zone + too-close in lane passing zone) to the right of the right line of motor vehicles. If a bicyclist is controlling the right hand lane, then make a lane change. Motorists delay cyclists (and motorists) more in Laguna Beach than the cyclists ever do!

[CyclistLorax]

@2ndarymotion - We were moving faster than traffic in the video, so what's your point? Arrogance about sharing? You mean us not getting out of the way when you want to move faster is arrogance? If so, then make a lane change to pass; this is called driving. Have you heard of it? As a matter of fact we DO OWN THE ROAD AS MUCH AS YOU DO, and maybe even more so, since we are not required to have a license to do so. I have never bounced off a car on the Modjeska grade; your claim is a lie!

[LevinMedia]

@SinfulMessiah amen brother.

[AnHeroDesu]

God dammit you cyclists, take Glenneyre not PCH.

[CyclistLorax]

@AnHeroDesu - God dammit you motorists, take Glenneyre not PCH.



[AnHeroDesu]

@CyclistLorax lol I do, PCH sucks XD

[CyclistLorax]

@AnHeroDesu - Glenneyre is much better suited to powered vehicles because of the steep hills. Let the cyclists use the more gently graded roadway of PCH. Or to put it more bluntly, only the state legislature can tell cyclists which public roads they should not use; it's not anyone else's place to tell cyclists to avoid any public road for which they have access and CVC 21 uniformity protections. I have just as much right to criticize your use of PCH as a motorist as you do mine as a cyclist!

[AnHeroDesu]

@CyclistLorax I say everyone should just avoid PCH and leave it for the pedestrians and police shoot outs XD

[High8s]

I don't wanna attack you guys personally but I am from there and now live in Portland Oregon where they've removed some lanes in the city to accompany the vast number of people who cycle to work. If this were the case in Laguna Beach I'd say no problem but bicyclists are a pain in the a*s, they are always in the road causing cars to swerve to avoid them, people fly through those canyons (illegally but still speeding) and if you value your lives you'd think again.... Go again pay the price!!

[2eyesopened]

TheRealBaldman is right about cyclists are no match for vehicles, but he is an ignorant self-righteous fool, not worth considering his opinions.

[TheRealBaldman]

God, I hope you get hit by a bus, get a motorcycle and lane split or use the sidewalk you cycling douche bags, honestly you are no match for one of the many idiots in a 2000 lb plus vehicle that are on the road every day, why tempt fate. Use the sidewalk, thats what it's for...

[CyclistLorax]

@TheRealBaldman - You are a real sick puppy, wishing others harm, and you are none too bright, since a side-walk is a walking facility on the side of the roadway, hence the name side-walk; get it? Cyclists OTOH are drivers, and have the same rights and duties as any other drivers of narrow width vehicles, so if motorcyclists can lane split, so can cyclists. I wish for just one moment you could be smarter, so you could grasp just how sick and idiotic you appear to the rest of humanity.

[anythung22]

@TheRealBaldman Bikes are for the road you idiot

[lauriejennifer]

I'm a motorcyclist, and I really, really wish this was legal in Chicago. You wouldn't believe how awful traffic can get here. In the summer, motorcycles will overheat just sitting there, and you can begin to feel the effects of the heat (nausea, lightheaded, etc.). Plus, I feel invisible and trapped. It's just all around unsafe and unwise.

Then again, Chicago drivers are aggressive, angry, unpredictable, and distracted. And many are aggressive towards me on the bike as it is...

[sponserdsk8ter]

0:24 nice lotus

[bigace511]

wow, i thought you were ah motorcyclist. =[

[tjsteele513]

This is comming to an end in California. CHP is sponsoring language to get bicycles off the motor roadways and restrict them to bicycle lanes only.

[CyclistLorax]

What evidence do you have to support this claim? There are no "motor roadways" in California. Caltrans is allowed to limit cycling on controlled access highways, but CVC 21 combined with CVC 21200 do not allow the restrictions you suggest. What language do you imagine the CHP is sponsoring?

[TidePools]

This doesn't seem safe at all.

[grn999]

CyclistLorax,

As both a cyclist and motorist for many years, enjoyed this video a lot. Glad you emphasized keeping the relative speed down. It may not happen often, but everyone should keep in mind that when splitting through stopped car traffic, drivers occasionally open their doors suddenly to spit something out on the pavement, or, in some cases, to vomit. You don't want to have to replace a tire, wheel, nose, etc. by being caught by surprise by this. Pays to keep that closing speed down!

[abzde]

Q.2 How would you advise bicycling through Laguna Beach with a 2 wheeled bicycle trailer? I've always wanted to pack some beach supplies in a bicycle trailer and ride to Crystal Cove (in North Laguna), but I've worried about how to deal with traffic in those conditions.

[abzde]

Wow I love all your videos. They are very informative. I feel like I can ride my bicycle anywhere after watching your vids. I just have a couple of questions about bicycling Laguna Beach.

How do you handle the traffic in South Laguna where the cars zip by at 40-45+ mph? Do you just ride in the middle of the right lane in those conditions and is it safe to do that by myself?

[CyclistLorax]

Sorry it took so long to respond; I've been very busy... I also pull a trailer to do grocery shopping, and I usually find that when I pull the trailer, drivers give me a wider berth when passing. When in a narrow lane, I do ride in the center or left of center in the lane, and I have found that drivers don't pass me too closely. I have also found that I am treated the same way as an individual as Brian and I are treated as a close-together pair.

[Throwmeabone]

Very cool video. Thanks for posting it. Were you guys talking to each other over mics or are we just hearing the guy with the camera talking?

[CyclistLorax]

Thanks, both of us were using helmet cameras and microphones. I mixed both of our audio tracks and the background music during the video editing and combined it with my helmet camrea footage of Brian for the final result.

[mondaycurse]

Almost 5 minutes and not a single middle-finger-waving, kid-hauling parent getting mad? I do love how all these expensive "fast" cars are being passed by human power.

[highway6southbound]

Very good video. I split lanes all the time, but rarely for as long as you did in this video and after clipping a side rear-view mirror on a woman's car now sometimes I'll lose my confidence for a split-second and have to stop or put my foot down and "walk" past. It's almost like target fixation, I concentrate too hard on not hitting any mirrors and riding right down the middle of the "aisle" that sometimes I almost want to crash into one, to get over with. I must be insane.

[CyclistLorax]

Target fixation can be cured, or rather it can be used to your advantage. Instead of focusing on the mirror, focus on the place in the road where you want your tires to be. You are still fixating on a target, the right target, the place you want to go. I do this when picking a line when lane splitting. I focus on the line I want to use to avoid cars/mirrors, instead of the cars/mirrors themselves. It works great, and you can practice by riding along lane stripes, or other easy "targets".

[PMThor]

I completely disagree. In other vids, you say be a vehicle, control lanes, then here, you advocate not paying attention to lanes. I say we need to be visible as possible, which is correct, then you say splitting lanes is ok?

When traffic is heavy, why not stay right? You cant control when a car changes lanes or when someone throws out a door. Most drivers are more prepared to see a bike on the right compared to having a bike split lanes.

If other vehicles can't do it we shouldn't do it.

[CyclistLorax]

If you watch closely, we are definitely paying attention to lanes. Lane splitting is an advanced traffic skill that can be practiced safely if a number of pre-conditions are met:

1) Cyclist must be comfortable controlling lanes, merging within lanes and making lane changes.

2) Traffic must be very slow moving and congested, otherwise staying in the queue is convenient enough.

When these conditions are met, cyclists can safely split lanes, where it is legal, such as in California.

[CyclistLorax]

In California, motorcyclists, and cyclists can legally split lanes to pass slower traffic. However this must be done with care. In the video you will notice that we were moving at les than 10 mph, often half that speed when the overall traffic was creeping along at a walking speed average. Drivers in creeping traffic in Laguna Beach don't open left side doors, so that isn't an isue, though they do open right side doos, which is why passing at the right edge is pathalogical.

[CyclistLorax]

Regarding lane changes, the traffic is so dense that lane changes happen only when gaps occur, andthat is somethingthe cyclist must watch out for when sliptting. Even when traffic does make lane changes at under 10mph, the relative threat is not very severe because the splitting cyclist can brake, speed up, or maneuver to avoid the lane change.

[freddotu]

As a recent convert to vehicular cycling, this is an interesting video. Florida doesn't allow lane-splitting and my velomobile is much wider and much lower, making such riding less advised. I can see that if done properly, the impact on the (very congested) traffic is trivial. There is a similarity to lane splitting and passing heavy traffic on the right, but lane splitting appears to be much safer for the cyclist. Nicely done!

[CyclistLorax]

Thanks Fred,

Brian and I both make an effort to employ good technique every time we ride, and lead by example by showing with video, how skillful traffic cycling looks from the cyclists' perspective. It is especially gratifying to receive praise from our peers.

[svref]

What are you looking at & for while you do this? Perhaps the thing to fear is an unsignalled lane change ... but people seldom lane change into substantial other objects like cars. So... equal congestion in both lanes is your friend?

Any special considerations at intersections?

[CyclistLorax]

We are looking for changes in lateral position of the lines of vehicles, particularly the line to the left, as it is a little harder for them to see us. Yes, congestion is our "friend" but only to the extent that it keeps traffic confined to the two adjacent lanes. Please understand that such congestion is exceptional in southern California, so we don't lane split a lot, and only do so to avoid sucking fumes for half an hour compared to 5 minutes of splitting.

[CyclistLorax]

Regarding intersections, we have to be very careful when entering intersections to ensure that left turning or right turning drivers see us, so Brian (leading) was being very cautious when entering intersections.

[CyclistLorax]

The CHP, and local jurisdictions allow it in CA. It is illegal in nearly all other states. We were aiming to show that low speed lane splitting in very low speed traffic can be practiced at low risk, provided the cyclists are comfortable transitioning between lane control to lane splitting.

[Josiah922]

Now how is this legal. Motorcycles are not allowed to do this. Why can bicycles? In am in Alabama by the way.