Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
I’ve been conducting guided tours through California with extended family, and I’ve seen the question emerge as I execute my assigned captain-of-vessel duties from behind the steering wheel, many times in a variety of different phrasings, “What is California?”
The comment has arisen that lane-splitting is hairbrained and stupid. I am inclined to agree. Lane-splitting, for the uninitiated, refers to the practice of going between cars when you’re on a motorcycle. It is legal here in California, and in not too many other places.
I must admit that if I was on a motorcycle I’d probably not exploit this. But I also must admit that I hope California keeps this allowance in place, for one reason and one reason alone: This state is completely pussy-whipped in all other respects. In all other scenarios, all other situations, all other institutions, in all other walks of life. In fact, I shouldn’t compare it to female anatomy or female appendages or female characteristics because it isn’t fair to females. I do find this to be anti-male, but anti-male is not the same as female.
In all other matters, “One Regulation Away From Complete Bliss” is the order of the day.
California is, in its own way, rather disgusting. It is egregious. It is extremist. It is…dare I string the words together in this sequence…brutally secure. Yes, that does capture it, I think.
Everybody has to be healthy and safe. Siskiyous to Rio Grande, Sierra Nevada to the surf of the Pacific, every single square inch. Everyone must have an absolute guarantee that they will stay that way — healthy, safe, cancer free, organic, sterilized, non-radioactive…happy and content. And everyone has to have the feeling that they are absolutely safe. All the time.
This objective is not possible in this universe of reality, and so: It is always the right time to make another law. So yes, I do agree the lane-splitting is potentially hazardous — I don’t see any reason to keep it legal, at all, save one — if it is outlawed, our pussification is complete. While this stupid suicidal practice remains legal, there is a layer of insulation separating California from the brink. It is the one way you can use your resourcefulness, and your drive, and your rugged individualism to get ahead of the crowd. It’s dangerous. California allows it and not too many other states do. We need more things like that, not fewer.
We were heading toward one of our favorite places in the National Forest, and Dad was noting how attractive the wilderness was. And it is. Well cared-for, has that looked-after feel to it. And these aren’t acres and acres we’re talking about; it’s square miles and square miles.
But we weren’t in the National Forest yet.
And herein lies my observation. Not quite so much a liberal/conservative thing; more of a statist/libertarian thing. What is it we keep hearing about national forests? “Protect it! Make this parcel of lands hands-off to developers! Make it so it can’t be developed!”
Here I’ll just come out and say it. I don’t think those people bother to come out to where we were. I don’t think they go to national forests. I don’t think they enter the periphery near the forests, where we were. Because what we were looking at destroyed the entire paradigm. “Make this a national forest so it is protected from development” assumes, implicitly, that anything outside the borders of a national forest is going to get developed. Or at least un-maintained. Un-looked-after. That obviously is not true, so the entire argument crumbles under the weight of its own inherent silliness.
The same is true of any government entitlement program. When you say we need to raise taxes so the government can make ends meet, and then we need that government to provide a program so the beneficiaries of the program can do…whatever…what you need to presume, for that idea to find support, is that a dollar left untaxed is a dollar that won’t be used to help anybody. Well, people use their after-tax dollars to contribute to charities. So there goes that.
Education, too. How many times do we hear, lately, that we need to route more of these dollars to “education.” Implicit in that is — well, it’s the same. We’ve built this leviathan construct bureaucracy to educate people. Therefore, there must not be any way to get educated outside of this bureaucracy. Now if you presume that and refrain from challenging it in any way, or tolerating any challenges to it in any way, it makes sense. But if you tolerate challenges to it, once again the whole argument crumbles. And why would you refuse to tolerate any challenges to it? On a word-for-word basis, nobody even has the balls to advance this supposition anyway.
I don’t mean to flesh this list out to the point where it becomes exhaustive. But there are more examples, of course. ObamaCare. People going uncovered, dying, diseased, medical costs through the roof, blah blah blah — because there is freedom. Because there is choice. Like Venus arising from the ocean waves, this idea springs forward from nothing that all these problems will simply go away if people are forced to do something. Forced into the “public option.” Forced to buy insurance. Same thing as what you saw with the national forests. Stopped. Hindered. Obstructed. Made to do. Forced. Must. Should. Can’t.
How have these acts of force solved our problems? How will they? How can they? I say, go ahead and ask the questions; you’ll probably notice what I’m noticing. The answer never seems to come. It’s like the sacrifice of some barnyard beast to some primitive deity. Do it, and the rains come and we have crops…unless they don’t, and we don’t, in which case, well, heck. We must not have done it right. Do it again.
Is the global warming scare still on? I’m not even sure anymore. Let’s consider adding that to the list. Let’s see if I can describe this crisis accurately: Something called the “mean earth temperature” has gone up by a degree or so over the last hundred years or so. Solution: “cap and trade” scheme of some kind, and maybe a tax. There it is again. Force. Make. Bludgeon, beat-down, coerce, penalize, regulate, legislate, enforce, fine, imprison.
May I proceed to point out the obvious? Here, I’ll state it word for word and ruin the suspense: We are surrounded by fellow citizens who think of force as an adequate substitute for logical thought. If they were to enjoy some mystical immediate translation of their every thought into action, the problem would remain unsolved. Or, let’s state it properly: We find ourselves wholly missing any logical substantiation for the idea that the stated problem might be solved.
The involvement of force, is the only ingredient in the proposed solution that might incline a person to think the situation would be improved. But since when has that really solved anything?
Gun control. Prohibition against trans fats and salts in restaurants. Don’t invade Iraq unless the U.N. says it’s okay. No “gaming” unless you’re in a licensed casino. No home-schooling. Can’t turn your thermostat to seventy-two degrees.
When there’s another “crisis” with an oil leak in the gulf, the answer is a drilling moratorium. What is a moratorium? It is the word “can’t.” So there it is yet again. Can’t, can’t, can’t, can’t, can’t.
I say: Fine, give it a try. Forbid people from doing things, to your heart’s content. But hey, I’m a moderate. I say…do it, and at the same time, remain open to the possibility that it isn’t working. That last half of it is not being done.
I see it as something like an involuntary facial tic. Or a hand-washing compulsion. Some challenge arises and the resolution to the challenge is not immediately obvious. So these people, who lack basic talents involving maturity and resourcefulness, immediately just scurry to their corner of protection and comfort and say — forbid X from doing Y and that will make everything come out all fine.
And don’t ask me how. “I don’t care, Obama is awesome!” and let’s move on to the next topic.
But these are the fellow citizens who are supposed to be our deep, talented, nuanced thinkers. Yeah, uh huh. You figure that one out, you drop me a line okay?
Update: It seems this particular brand of insanity does not sleep, or even rest. Hat tip to Instapundit.
Can someone come up with some kind of special treatment, or program of confinement, or drug, to get these poor wretches the help that they need?
Cross-posted at Washington Rebel.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I was told that the rationale behind lane splitting was to help prevent air-cooled motorcycles from overheating in heavy traffic.
I did it almost daily on the 5 north through Del Mar and occasionally on the 5 south to Chula Vista. That southbound trip had two stretches of well over a mile each. I had one close call where I clipped the side mirror on a van that took my hand off the handlebars and one jackass who thought it would be funny to open his door as I got close.
Motorcycles are indeed the blind spot in the California nanny state. You can wear the most ridiculously thin “skid lid” helmets as long as you’re on a Harley.
- Jason | 04/04/2011 @ 20:33If lane splitting is legal, there needs to be a “we really mean it” penalty against door openers. Some total stranger spends the rest of his life in traction…for your punchline? What kind of person thinks that’s a reasonable exchange?
- mkfreeberg | 04/04/2011 @ 20:38I was tempted to pull my bike over on the shoulder, walk back to the car, and beat the crap out of the joker. Traffic was at a dead stop so it was an option. Do NOT start a fight with a guy who’s wearing armor.
- Jason | 04/04/2011 @ 22:15[…] “Leaving the Reservation” Force Obama’s Re-election Campaign Being Run at LA Times “Now We Know Who the Half Man […]
- House of Eratosthenes | 04/05/2011 @ 08:03I used to lane-split occasionally when I lived in CA… but I was ALWAYS on the highest state of alert possible, and then some. That can be a nerve-racking experience.
- bpenni | 04/05/2011 @ 13:00I lanesplit every day to/from work. It literally saves an hour a day. Always try to be courteous, my bike has stock exhaust, and I try to give everyone lots of room. After all these people see me daily, and no one needs to be on the road with someone 8x larger that is holding a grudge.
Passing a CHP cruiser stuck in traffic is always a high point of the day, if not the week.
+1 to Jason. Someone that stupid deserves a beatdown. And a helmet has so many uses.
- HoundOfDoom | 04/05/2011 @ 16:20The comment has arisen that lane-splitting is hairbrained and stupid. I am inclined to agree. Lane-splitting, for the uninitiated, refers to the practice of going between cars when you’re on a motorcycle.
I don’t ride a motorcycle, and the ones who do will probably hate me for this, but I’m going to say it anyway.
Whenever I am stuck in traffic and someone passes right next to my driver’s side door on a motorbike, I always have to resist the urge to open my door just as he’s passing by…and lean into it as hard as I possibly can.
Why would I do something so cruel? Because I detest this. It’s dangerous, for one – I’m always afraid one of these people is going to be doing that right at the moment I’m attempting a lane change, or leaning out the window to spit, or simply that he’s not as experienced a cyclist as he thinks he is and will put a nice deep scratch on my car as he passes by.
That, and I always want to yell after these riders, “WAIT YOUR FUCKING TURN LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!”
I’ve got no problem with the CHP doing this if they’re actually responding to a call. Other than that, I’d fully support seeing this practice banned.
- cylarz | 04/06/2011 @ 01:49I had one close call where I clipped the side mirror on a van that took my hand off the handlebars and one jackass who thought it would be funny to open his door as I got close.
Thank you for proving my point, Jason.
If lane splitting is legal, there needs to be a “we really mean it” penalty against door openers. Some total stranger spends the rest of his life in traction…for your punchline? What kind of person thinks that’s a reasonable exchange?
Which is why I have always resisted the urge to actually do that to a biker. Well, that and I don’t want him tearing off my car door with the impact-force of his motorcycle, either. But instead of a “we really mean it” penalty, how about simply banning it and ticketing anyone who does it?
I wouldn’t be surprised if the door-opening thing is already punishable under current law as “assault and battery,” or something similar.
I was tempted to pull my bike over on the shoulder, walk back to the car, and beat the crap out of the joker. Traffic was at a dead stop so it was an option. Do NOT start a fight with a guy who’s wearing armor.
What if the driver has a handgun, and points it at your face? Still want to fight? Especially in LA like where you’re talking about. That helmet AIN’T bulletproof, buddy.
Maybe you’d like a beatdown from the guy whose side mirror you damaged.
- cylarz | 04/06/2011 @ 02:00You should have ended your comments at “I don’t ride a motorcycle” because pretty much everything after that was either ignorant, self-centered, or malicious. Lane splitting is dangerous because you’re not checking for approaching riders before you change lanes?
Yes, cylarz, my first reaction to somebody who tries to hurt me is to hurt them back. Compare that to:
Whenever I am stuck in traffic and someone passes right next to my driver’s side door on a motorbike, I always have to resist the urge to open my door just as he’s passing by…and lean into it as hard as I possibly can.
I hope you will think about that statement for a while. You are wishing somebody–and not just wishing it, but contemplating inflicting–serious injury or death because of what? Not because of anything they have done to you personally, but because you’re stuck in traffic and they’re not? This is not sane.
A couple of days back there was a discussion about using the phrase “with all due respect.” My pet peeve has always been people who say “sir,” or “my friend” when they really mean “asshole.” As in, “Cylarz, my friend, you really need to talk to somebody about these thoughts because you, sir, are a danger to others.”
Take a hint, asshole.
- Jason | 04/06/2011 @ 07:38Cylarz,
I never used to lane split, but now filter to the front of the line at every light. What changed? Multiple incidents of bikers getting mowed down while waiting @ traffic lights by unattentive drivers.
I ride a red CBR1100XX in Orange County daily. If you pull the door stunt on me, be sure you finish the job.
Submitted with all the respect you deserve, asshole.
- HoundOfDoom | 04/06/2011 @ 10:30Heh. Cylarz strikes again… always and ever the opinionated asshat. Thanks for making my day, Jason and HoD.
- bpenni | 04/06/2011 @ 10:46Actually guys, I was trying to warn you about getting yourselves killed on the road. You guys are eventually going to be pavement pizza. And once more, remember that we’re talking about a US state. People HAVE been known to carry guns in their cars….
Our friend Jason here just admitted that he’s already struck at least one vehicle while lane-splitting, thus validating my fears and peeves about this reckless practice.
I think often about one of my uncles. When he was young man, he had a friend with whom he’d go motorcycle riding.
One day, they were headed down a busy urban street in our hometown, the friend riding out ahead. As he did so, an 18-wheeler suddenly appeared from behind a large building on the right side of the street, pulling into traffic. As the truck made its left turn onto the road, the unfortunate young man scored a direct hit on the left side of the trailer…and went underneath. Needless to say, he didn’t make it. My uncle, fortunately, was able to stop his bike in time. After the funeral, he got rid of his own motorcycle and didn’t ride again for 25 years.
If I were you, I’d sell that damn bike faster than you can say “losing end of the traffic crash.”
Know the best part about guys who go around acting like they’ve got something to prove, loud-mouthed and hot tempered, though? Eventually…they collide (figuratively if not literally) with someone else who’s EXACTLY like them.
At that point, all hell breaks loose…and both parties get exactly what they deserve. The only parties I feel sorry for are the bystanders.
Call it karma, call it what-goes-around-comes-around.
You can call me an asshole if it makes you feel better, child, but it says more about the man saying it…and quite frankly, proves all points I’ve been making on this thread. Not only are you guys reckless, you’ve got a serious attitude problem.
- cylarz | 04/06/2011 @ 10:58I have to say I can see both sides of this one.
On the one hand, if you feel any kind of impulse at all toward the door-opening maneuver, you should not be driving, period. On the other hand, if your “not going to get killed today” plan depends, even in small part, on the other guy doing things right — you should not be on a motorcycle. You should be assuming everyone else is an idiot, period. Back in my day, I’d hop on my motorcycle in Bellevue and the first thing I’d do is beat feet out of town, to Highway 2 or I-90, head to where there weren’t any people. I didn’t trust Bellevue drivers. And if I did that now, I certainly wouldn’t trust Sacramento drivers.
One thing I’d honestly like to know: Let’s say the door-opening homicide is entirely out of the picture. What is to be done about dickhead drivers who pull up to the light WAY over to the left or right, within the lane? They aren’t exactly aligned to micrometer precision, are they? How does one go about acquiring the necessary confidence over time, so the minutes can be saved? It seems to me as the opportunity for advantage increases with the number of cars being passed, the hazard also increases.
- mkfreeberg | 04/06/2011 @ 11:17On the one hand, if you feel any kind of impulse at all toward the door-opening maneuver, you should not be driving, period.
Perhaps. Note that I did say this (as well as shouting at passing riders) were merely the inclinations of my heart, not my actual words or deeds. They’re borne out of an utter frustration with reckless, dangerous maniacs on motorbikes who seem not to be concerned even with their own safety, much less that of anyone around them. I mentioned this “urge” to a friend of mine once, who said, “If he hits your car even without you opening your door, it’s going to hurt him more than it does your car. He’s going down.”
Jason here has told us that he’s already run into at least one person has done the door-opening trick to him. It is bound to happen to him again eventually if he keeps lane-splitting. Will he be as lucky next time?
It seems to me as the opportunity for advantage increases with the number of cars being passed, the hazard also increases.
Yes. And as a result of the conversation on this thread (including being called an “asshole” by the very individuals who I was trying to warn against such recklessness), I’ve decided it’s time for the State of California to step in and curb this abhorrent practice, for the safety of all concerned.
I’m going to be contacting my state legislative representatives shortly, in writing, and requesting sponsorship of a bill which outlaws “lane splitting,” punishable by heavy fines. And I may not stop there, either.
Our state already mandates seat belts, motorcycle helmets, carpool lanes, speed limits, and hundreds of other traffic laws in the name of public safety. This is a small additional step. As with the concealed-carry laws, it is long past time for California to follow the lead of numerous other states. I also think it is grossly unfair that motorcycle riders get to “cut in line” in heavy traffic, instead of waiting their turn like everyone else. I find it curious that these people are apparently allowed to cut between cars, but not ride on the shoulders of the road, where they’d at least only be passing cars on one side.
My uncle – the one I mentioned earlier – said that there are two types of motorcycle riders. The kind that have been down on the pavement, and the kind that are going down. It should be pointed out that if a rider collides with so much as a Prius, he’s going to come out second-best.
Get off the bike and live to see your grandkids.
- cylarz | 04/06/2011 @ 13:47Well, isn’t that nice, you’ve decided that it’s time for the state to step in.
I missed the part where you were made king. Unless it’s king of the assholes, which you have earned by acclimation.
Your ridiculous assertions that you are ‘concerned for my safety’ are as hollow as the threats you made to open a door on me. Your frustration to make me wait my turn is more genuine.
You have no right – none – to tell me what to do. You are not hall monitor, ensuring that all us kiddies wait in nice straight lines.
I’ve been down, thank you. And it has not affected you in the least. So do yourself a favor. Go play junior general somewhere else.
- HoundOfDoom | 04/06/2011 @ 14:47Cylarz, do you use a wheelbarrow or a hand truck to haul around your inflated sense of self-importance?
I’m glad that you’re “decided it’s time for the State of California to step in and curb this abhorrent practice, for the safety of all concerned” and that you’re “going to be contacting my state legislative representatives shortly, in writing, and requesting sponsorship of a bill” Seriously, do you talk like that on the phone or do you save all of your big words for anonymous message board postings?
I sleep well at night knowing that there’s people like you out there, who have achieved such perfection in the management of their own lives, that they can turn a benevolent, loving eye to mine. And at the same time, I feel sad that the people that you care so much for reward your efforts with derision and mockery.
Thank you, but I don’t need your warning or your concern or least of all, your campaign against my liberty. You think that it’s grossly unfair that motorcycle riders get to cut in line? Okay, let’s assume that anybody gives a rat’s ass what you think. What is it that makes it unfair? If I were as concerned for the safety of others as you profess to be, I would feel sorry for the poor, unenlightened souls who would risk their very life and limb to shave a couple of minutes from their daily commute.
But no, you’re jealous. You’re jealous that somebody has taken a risk that you’re too cowardly for and as a result is reaping a reward that you will never, ever claim. These people haven’t taken anything from you, yet you’re going to stew in your impotent rage and fantasize about killing one of them. As you say, these are “merely the inclinations of [your] heart.”
My God, but aren’t you the stereotypical leftist–you’re going to dictate my safety and you’ll kill me if I don’t comply.
- Jason | 04/06/2011 @ 15:43Thing is, if someone was insanely stupid enough to open a door during a commute – they’re just inviting the motorcycle IN. Share the space? Welcome in FRIEND! It’s not a very nice result, and the idiot who does it is in for a world of hurt — after the lawyers take all his money for attempted murder.
- DirtCrashr | 04/06/2011 @ 17:08I wonder if he ever thought how it feels to have a pair of hot front disc brakes in his groin along, along with a hot and nasty-dirty tire — after they run over his leg and lap and knock the coffee cup out of his hand. Paramedics could probably could use a couple stitches, down next to that femoral artery. Or how it feels to have a metal handlebar in his ear when it come bursting into the car-cabin? It’s really a lame idea and literally and invitation to disaster.
All because he chose to convey himself in a slow, shuttered box with limited visibility — and one that eats gas at a huge rate compared to that of a motorcycle, all because he chose to imprison himself in a cage instead of choosing freedom. But from the expressions of the caged-beast impulse, it is probably a wise idea that he not ride — gotta be able to balance after all, and this one sounds un-balanced and ill-conceived.
One reason motorcycles get a pass to the front is because their impacts are far less than the fat oafs stuck in cars – like the ecotards driving heavy wasteful, inefficient Volvos. It’s not for everybody, just some-bodies.
Damn, I love this country.
You see how fast and furious this thread explodes, how quickly it metamorphisizes into (or metastasizes into) a debate on the freedom one is to achieve on two wheels…and what you’re seeing is the reason socialized medicine can’t find a toehold stateside, and never will. We are too unwilling to part with freedom.
Maybe the motto of the country needs to be “Who the fuck are you to tell me?!?”
- mkfreeberg | 04/06/2011 @ 21:28@Jason: Scrolled past your last post without reading it. Didn’t care to hear anything else you’ve got to say on the subject.
@Hound: See comment to Jason.
@Morgan:
Maybe the motto of the country needs to be “Who the fuck are you to tell me?!?”
Someone whose property and personal safety could be endangered by the poor judgment of a lane-splitting motorcycle rider. We can talk all day long about how we have a right to live our lives as we please, but you know the old saying – your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.
We certainly don’t have an American or God-given right to put other people’s lives or property in jeopardy, especially not to shave 30 minutes or an hour off our daily commute by weaving in and out of traffic. Sorry.
@DirtCrashr:
Thing is, if someone was insanely stupid enough to open a door during a commute – they’re just inviting the motorcycle IN. Share the space? Welcome in FRIEND!
A highly unlikely scenario. The motorcycle would simply ricochet off the door (severely damaging it in the process) and be brought to a sudden halt before tipping onto its side. If the rider is lucky, he’ll land in the lap of the car’s driver. If he’s not so lucky, he’ll be catapulted over the handlebars or thrown *away* from the car…in either of these latter cases there’s a good chance he’ll then be run over by another vehicle, perhaps even the one that he collided with. I promise you, the motorcyclist is going to come out second-best.
The exact outcome would depend on the size and mass of the car, the size and mass of the motorcycle, the difference in speed between the two (all three contribute to the force of impact) and other factors.
Sorry Dirt, but a crotch-rocket is colliding with a Chevy Suburban’s side door is NOT going to unfold as you describe. Not even close. The SUV will suffer severe damage to its door, but I can virtually guarantee that its driver and passengers will walk away unharmed. The cyclist will land in the hospital or the morgue.
I drive around in a full sized pickup that is nearly 35 years old. I pay a fortune for gas, but the thing is built like a tank. I would barely feel the collision from even a Harley-Davidson, much less whatever it is you’re riding.
You’re *definitely* not having this conversation with the driver of an 18-wheeler. Some of those guys chew Copenhagen and open their door to spit quite often. Want to lose your head? Drive your motorbike into the bottom of a semi-truck’s cab door as the trucker is opening it to hock. Pow.
Ah, but what if a big motorcycle hits a small car, you ask? Hey, in that case, maybe, maybe…but I can still promise you the cyclist is going to have a pretty crummy day. His bike is going to be totaled at the very least.
Is it really worth saving a few minutes in traffic?
It’s not a very nice result, and the idiot who does it is in for a world of hurt — after the lawyers take all his money for attempted murder.
Also unlikely. Wishful thinking at best.
The driver of the car would claim in court that he was opening his door to spit, and the plaintiff’s lawyer (or district attorney’s office, as the case may be) would be hard-pressed to prove otherwise. For all the motorcyclist knows, it’s the truth. It in fact may well really be. You’re just assuming the car’s driver meant to pull a cruel prank.
The case would be thrown out of court, or the defendant-driver given a slap on the wrist for negligence. Furthermore, the driver could easily counter-sue the cyclist…assuming he is still alive. I also don’t think the law permitting lane-splitting also includes the right to sideswipe someone’s car just because the cyclist misjudged the distance between the sides of two vehicles in adjacent lanes.
If the car door didn’t open, the cops are *definitely* going to pin it on the biker. One. Hundred. Percent.
Consider instead the *actually likely* scenario that the car in question isn’t opening any of its doors, intentionally or otherwise, but is instead attempting a lane change in heavy traffic into a less-crowded lane. Drivers sometimes get careless and lane-change without checking their mirrors or looking over the shoulder. (My dad was a driver-training instructor, and he told me the acronym is SMOG – signal, mirror, over-shoulder, go.)
The cyclist happens to be trying to squeeze past this car on the wrong side, neither driver sees the other in time…..POW. The cycle T-bones the car, which weighs ten or twenty times as much as the bike. (You are familiar with basic physics, I take it.) A complete happenstance with no malice aforethought, but that biker is no less dead.
One reason motorcycles get a pass to the front is because their impacts are far less than the fat oafs stuck in cars…
Darn those fat oafs, riding in a 2000 lb cocoon of glass and steel. How dare they get in the way of lane-splitting motorcycle pilots who can’t get out of the house on time and thereby have to drive recklessly? Many of these oafs also actually drive cars that sit safely up high and weigh 6000 pounds, gas mileage be damned. Not everyone rides around in a subcompact, as you no doubt notice. Sorry, but it’s not my problem that you’re running late and have to take chances in traffic.
The worst part of it is that bikers don’t even seem to care about all this. All they care about is getting to where they’re going a bit sooner. And frankly I resent that. I don’t want some idiot coming even within 3 feet of my car while riding a motorcycle.
I barely even trust the police to be doing this, and they spend more time on motorcycles than the rest of you put together.
Remember that uncle I was telling you about? Well, after that 25-year hiatus from cycle-riding, he came into some money, decided to shake off what had happened to his buddy so many years ago, renewed his Class-D license, and bought himself a nice Harley. Then he decided to ride it across the country.
On a rural highway in Nevada, he lost control of the bike and fell off at high speed. He was flipped onto his back and slid the length of a football field. Fortunately, he survived with moderate injuries. The bike was totaled.
Around that same time, a cousin on the other side of the family was riding along a twisty rural road with an under-inflated front tire. He hit a gravel patch along the road, lost control, and was catapulted over the handlebars. He crashed to the ground and his head came to a stop only a few inches from a curb along the road. Luckily, he walked away.
If you’re not willing to get off the bike completely (and thereby stop driving up accident-liability and health insurance premiums for the rest of us), at least consider what I’m saying…and quit with the fucking lane-splitting. Please.
Think of someone beside your damn selves. Like your families, who’d probably just as soon not go to your funeral after you got your dumb ass killed in traffic.
- cylarz | 04/06/2011 @ 23:09And yeah, my Congressman will definitely be hearing from me shortly. Enough is enough.
Cylarz,
Just to be clear, I’m making a comment about the passion involved in the issue on both sides, which seems to be related directly to the “swing arms, where the nose is” aspect of it. There aren’t too many topics that are assured to spin off a thread like this one…the ones that are, share this aspect. I’m thinking specifically of the one about legalizing grass, in which case I came down on the other side of it. But in all cases, the impression I come away with is that Americans give a damn about freedom when few other countries do. It’s good to see.
Regarding the “open door in protest” scenario, I think the time has come to ask the obvious question: Exactly what incidents are on record of this ever happening? Or of any incident of injury or property damage coming from the lane splitting? I get your point about the potential for disaster, but if you’re talking about contacting state representatives without looking into the anecdotal evidence, what you are essentially doing is outlawing something because it’s scary. In that case, even if there is evidence to back up your claim, but you remain unaware of it, that would put you on par with Senator Feinstein figuring out what products are subject to the assault weapons ban, by going through a gun magazine and circling the pictures of whatever looks intimidating.
- mkfreeberg | 04/07/2011 @ 06:43That’s right, cylarz, you go run and tell your mommy that the other kids are playing in the abandoned lot again. Can you do us a favor and post your letter here in the comments? I’d like to read it while imagining Grampa Simpson’s voice.
- Jason | 04/07/2011 @ 06:48Update: From snooping around the threads (trying to find an authoritative link I can post) it seems the motorcycle is still required to keep it below 10mph relative to the surrounding traffic when lane splitting, which would mean I think 10mph while the surrounding traffic is standing still. Any collisions that take place, then, would be the motorcyclist’s fault, and if he were to keep on going that would be a hit-and-run.
The impression I get from this is: What actually is left legal in California, isn’t much. There still is an element of danger involved, but if there is a situation that makes it too hazardous, the 2-wheeler would probably be doing something already illegal.
- mkfreeberg | 04/07/2011 @ 07:06Despite low emissions, now you get to see how much *smug* Motorcyclists can emit!
The hot-forks and mess in a drivers’ seat is not a highly unlikely scenario at all, I have seen pictures of the results and it’s very ugly. I wish I had a link to the pics now but this is Old News. Both persons were transported by ambulance to hospital. “I was opening my door to spit” would never work as an excuse when there are windows available – and plenty of lanesplitters have been hit by that and other things too. Milkshakes and sodas are a popular missile.
- DirtCrashr | 04/07/2011 @ 10:30Lanesplitting is not reckless, it is risk-taking – and it’s also using space/time more efficiently. You need not be late for work (or even going to work) either, especially in SoCal, when you encounter a huge, clotted morass of vehicles.
On a bike out on a freeway there’s an entirely different spatial perspective – the amount of space available is enormous and with crawling traffic separated by white lines – the interstices are easily quite available and useful – it’s kinda like bandwith. A broad wave vs. a narrow one. Also, Motorcycles do “tread-lightly” (many modern eco-conscious Motorcyclists feel they are being “more green” by riding), as far as impacts are concerned, from manufacture to use – but it’s not for everybody, obviously – there is risk involved.
But this is an Age-Olde thread from USENET and other things long past, we’re just repeating what countless people have already said including all the personal family anecdotes…
1.) Low-speed operation and about 10-15mph is the recognized best-minor differential, and about max for safety – and what the CHP recognizes. Don’t lane split when traffic is moving above 45mph because that puts you at 50-55mph and reaction-time is vastly decreased. It’s not the outright speed that kills, it’s the differential.
2.) passing another lanesplitter in the same interstice is Bad Form – pull aside into a traffic lane if you are holding-up other lanesplitters.
3.) I didn’t get my nickname for nothing, I’ve been down before – on the street too.
I got sidetracked by the troll so yeah, there are rules to lanesplitting. Here are mine:
1) never go faster than you would want to slide along the pavement
2) always split the leftmost lane
3) try to make eye contact with the driver to your right through the wing mirror when approaching
4) know your exits! “Slam the brakes and pray” is not sufficient emergency preparation.
5) you don’t have the necessary skill to judge the height of a delivery van’s wing mirror while following rule 4 at 20mph and while buzzing underneath it may be cool, whacking it with your hand hurts and is potentially disastrous.
99% of incorrect vertical orientation issues are the result of either inattention or going too fast for conditions.
- Jason | 04/07/2011 @ 13:31And yeah, I used to grin that my too-heavy, woefully inefficient American motorcycle got Prius-like gas mileage.
- Jason | 04/07/2011 @ 13:35Good to hear my fellow bikers stomp this little facist weasel into paste. Jason knows his stuff. Y’all make me proud.
Ain’t that the liberal way, though, “You WILL comform if you know what’s good for you!”. Freedom, individualisim, fun, it’s all gone. We all get to ride to work in our used mica sand beige corollas. Yeah, just like europe. Just like the society we revolted against. Yeah, that’ll work.
Cylarz, as long as we’re living in your herd rent free, can you clean the place out a bit? All the che guvera and day-glo posters are a bit dated. And can you please pick up that bong? It really stinks. Like you.
- HoundOfDoom | 04/08/2011 @ 06:53I’ve not met Cylarz personally, but I’m reasonably sure he’s not a lefty.
- mkfreeberg | 04/08/2011 @ 07:11Well, if he’s on the right, it seems he’s gone so far that he’s circled around to the left.
- HoundOfDoom | 04/08/2011 @ 10:12[…] maybe you shouldn’t, but maybe it shouldn’t be illegal either: Lane-splitting, for the uninitiated, refers to the practice of going between cars when […]
- dustbury.com » Split that lane! | 04/08/2011 @ 12:26