Lane splitting petition to the obama administration  By  scootdoggydog (Read 2,461 times)

Without specific speeds determined or assigned, the following definitions are as I use them in following discussion.

For the sake of clarity, I think filtering could be defined as moving up >through< traffic that is stopped or moving at very low speeds. 

Lane splitting may be defined as moving up >through< the general mass of traffic that is flowing, but is below the posted speed limit.

And >through< meaning; between the vehicles in their respective lanes.

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I don't think that all states, perhaps not many, actually have car pool lanes. Never seen nor heard of them here in Michigan.

Again, I would say that I think that filtering would be safer and make more sense than also allowing lane splitting since filtering is just moving up through stopped or nearly stopped traffic and should always be below a certain speed.

The biggest hurdle to overcome would be getting the general driving public aware of the practice. The close second to that would be getting them to accept it. One could almost guarantee conflicts initially. Information takes a while to be widely disseminated, acquired and understood. Those more inclined to road rage or aggressive drivers may feel threatened, affronted or cheated by others getting ahead of them. It's just nasty human nature... but it does and would happen.

It would be that way until the general driving public accepted that "that is just the way it is" in the same way that the California driving public knows and has become accustomed to it in their state. Change for the (true) good can happen, but it often starts off messy. The first thing then would be to determine that over the long term if it would be worth implementing.

Still, even now I think it is up to the states individually to determine their traffic laws. We do not need big government in on this. If you want it, push and petition for it in your state in the same way helmet laws are pushed for. (or against as the case may be.) If you would like to see it in other states then you could encourage them to do so, but if they don't want it, then it should not be forced upon them and against the will of the people of their state. California decided for themselves to allow it.... big government did not come in and make them do it or stop them from doing it so.... if nothing else than by precedent, other states should be allowed to change their traffic laws to include filtering and/or lane splitting as they see fit.

In this case I think the petition idea is well-intentioned, but misguided. Besides it would be a heck of a lot easier to get one state at a time to change than trying to get the nation as a whole to move all at once on something. (little bites are easier to chew through.... and more effective at encouraging change elsewhere once momentum is built.)
JMHO

I like the "filtering" I saw on M13's videos, on Youtube, in Taiwan.  

When people come to a stop light, bikes are allowed to go between lanes and get in a special space right up front.  This encourages the use of scooters and bikes, which use less fuel and put out less pollution, assuming people respect the environment enough to leave their emissions equipment in place.  (I left mine in place. I tried it with and without, and saw zero difference in performance, so I saw no good reason to remove it, and at least one good reason to leave it on: cleaner air.)  Bikes also are seen riding on the right hand side all in a group. Special parking spaces are another nice incentive to use bikes.


I don't know what those masks are for.  They aren't going to filter out the sea of carbon monoxide they are driving in.  I can't count the times I've been choked out by just one pick-up truck or bus in front of me spewing emissions so thick you can actually see it in the air as a semi-invisible cloud, looking like the cloaking effect out of a "Predator" movie.
 

Wow.  I wonder if they have helmets with built in filters over there.  Thanks for the information.

At first glance, I react wrong to this picture. I see a bunch of scooters holding up the cagers. But then I stop and think, what if everyone of those scooters was lined up end to end, with the 4-wheeled vehicles peppered in amongst them. The traffic jam would probably stretch back for a mile. I'm still not convinced lane-splitting or filtering is a great idea, but I can definitely see it being a necessity in this picture, at least without some other "better" means of getting the traffic to flow.



--Thanking my lucky stars I don't deal with traffic jams!--

What it does is filter out (somewhat) the diesel soot that you were choking on. I was in the Philippines once and the buildings were a dark gray from all of the diesel soot. Some of it gets washed away from the rain but EVERYTHING sitting still and immovable is stained from it. Swimming pool at the Holiday Inn was peppered with little oily bits of the stuff. Couldn't swim without getting it smeared all over you. NASTY YUCK!  Even the plants around the city (Manila) and vehicles that had been parked for a long time had a dull haze of the soot.

A full on gas mask might filter out the  carbon monoxide, ozone and who knows what else. But it would be hot as all get out wearing one, hard to see the taxi that is about to smack into you and the sight of you would scare the bejeezus out of people coming your way causing them to loose control and naturally have them crash right into you.

The "Predator" cloaking effect is light being bent (refracted) by the waves of heat from the engine & its exhaust. It is the same sort of rippling waves effect seen on hot pavement on a bright and sunny day and the same thing that gives rise to mirages. That being said, buses do not make very good cloaking devices when used in that way. It should go without saying then that the device itself would be difficult, if not nearly impossible to cloak well enough to make it practical for that use.

So they just use them for public transport instead.  

I for one am rather indifferent when it comes to lane splitting... Personally, I wouldn't do it. I think it's dangerous. However, if someone else wants to do it, more power to 'em, as long as they're not being stupid and riding a wheely while they're doing it....

But, this thread isn't about my opinion, it's about legislation.... I'm against Uncle Sam regulating things like these.... The risk is to the driver. If the driver wants to assume that risk, more power to him/her.

I got cold-cocked once because of that.





Okay, in reality my boss was telling about how car-drivers do exactly that where his brother lives, where it's illegal to lane-split or filter. And he flung out his arm demonstrating--just as I walked up to give him a message. His fist hit me under my jaw and at the top of my throat. Yes, I cried after the first couple seconds of shock. I mean, you don't typically expect to get cold-cocked working at Kinko's. He told his wife that night that he'd had the worst day at work, 'cause he hit the last person in the world he'd ever want to hit. That was sweet. But my throat was sore for a couple days.

See? Lane splitting is SO dangerous, even to folks inside a copy store in a totally different state!

>'Kat