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The Art and Science of Lane Splitting by Denny Kobza

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The Art and Science of Lane Splitting by Denny Kobza The Art and Science of Lane Splitting By Denny Kobza References: Safety implications of lane-splitting among California motorcyclists involved in collisions By Thomas Rice, MPH, PhD and Lara Troszak Research Epidemiologist, Safe Transportation Research & Education Center, University of California Berkeley and Motorcycle Lane-Share study among Motorcyclist and Drivers 2014 and comparison to 2012 and 2013 by Ewald and Wasserman The following are my observations and analysis of Lane Sharing. I am an avid lifelong motorcyclist. I am the person who proposed to the California Motorcycle Safety Committee that we educate the public on Lane Splitting. I attended and helped organize the first Lane Sharing Summit where 25 experts came together to establish basic recommendations to bring back to the Motorcycle Safety Team. These recommendations would later be submitted to the CHP to establish their Guidelines. The guidelines, like others by the CHP and DMV, are not meant to be law. They are intended to be suggestions, similar to yellow warning signs that are advisory in nature and suggest a safe speed for the conditions. Current Law: The practice of lane splitting is legal and there are no speed limits assigned to the practice. There are current laws in place that allow the CHP to manage the practice. Speeding and Reckless driving are among many tools that the CHP can expertly use to monitor motorcyclists and drivers. I understand that Lane Splitting may scare or startle the general driving public. My hope is that with additional education, the startled feeling will decrease as drivers become more aware of motorcyclists. The practice of Lane Splitting allows for the better flow of traffic, and when done correctly, it can increase safety for motorcyclist significantly. It is my opinion, that with additional public outreach it will gain acceptance by drivers and make the roadway better for everyone. As with most things, it may take time for people to accept the practice. It is my opinion that education is the key to acceptance. Getting this education into the Drivers Training System will make an entire generation of drivers aware of Lane Splitting and its benefits. Lane Splitting reduces congestion for everyone. The Facts: Thanks to Dr. Tom Rice’s work, the facts are in. When applying a 15 MPH speed differential, the Lane Splitting motorcyclist is safer than the motorcyclist sitting in traffic. That applies to higher speeds. However, to make it safer, you still you have to have to manage two different skill sets: Mental awareness/anticipation and motorcycle control. The Science: Injuries become more severe with higher speeds. This is a simple fact of momentum. If you hit a wall going 5 MPH you will get one injury and if you hit it going 50 MPH the injury will be more severe. It is the sudden deceleration that causes catastrophic injuries. Motorcyclists have to be aware that the faster they ride, the more likely a crash will cause a serious injury. You can fall off a motorcycle at significant speed and if wearing proper gear, slide to a stop without a serious injury. The likelihood of being able to slide to a stop on a freeway is not great. The chance of being hit or run over is high as well. Once on the ground you are depending on luck and the skill of your fellow motorist to keep you from serious injury. Avoiding a collision is where the Art comes in. Lane Splitting is a learned skill set, there is no doubt about it. The Art: There are many skills required to safely Lane Split safely and the tips below are just portion of them. Mental awareness is THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR in lane sharing safely. You can wheelie all day, brake like a Professional Road racer and be a lousy lane sharer. DO NOT assume, because you have good motorcycle control, that you are capable of lane sharing safely. It helps of course, but it means little in reality if you are an over confident ass. Lane sharing is much more than just math. It is a process, an art form in ways. Like water pushing through sand looking for the path of least resistance, a lane sharing motorcyclist must do the same. We must have a heightened awareness for our own safety. Things can change quickly and it is a very dynamic situation. The nuances of the driver’s “tells” are great indicators to a lane sharing motorcyclist. These nuances need to be learned and we try to share those on my website to educate riders on how the mental skills are just as or more important than the physical ones. “A superior rider uses superior judgment to avoid situations that require superior skill” (1). This judgment includes: Scanning the drivers mirrors for their eyes – are they seeing you? Watching their heads bob up and down is a sign of a texting driver. Eyes down identifies if they on the phone. Are they drifting in their lane? Are they moving towards the edge of their lane indicating a merge / lane change? Are they coming from several lanes over looking to get into the commuter lane? Are they grasping the wheel as if they intend to execute a turn? Is the front wheel of their vehicle turned toward the motorcyclist and their eyes in the mirror looking to make a mad dash merge? If it is dark then ½ of the above cannot be applied so the danger is compounded. Texting while riding: Well, we don’t really text while riding. The superior rider is on high alert for incoming threats, the condition of the roadway, and a hundred other variables that surround them during a ride through heavy traffic. I am sure however, you have seen the inattentive driver looking down at their phone. When looking downwards, their eyelids cover enough of the eye to obscure forward vision almost completely. Now let’s apply that to a motorcyclist having to check his speedometer and you can see why a speed limit is potentially dangerous. Due to the angle of the head and the speedometer you end up with pretty much the exact same thing. Now think about that. You are riding a motorcycle in heavy traffic with two ton metal boxes in front and behind and your decision to lane share to a safer environment now requires you to take your eyes off the road. This is one of the main reasons I am not a supporter of a speed limit while lane sharing. Most motorcyclists will self-govern their speed, as their safety is 100% on them and they know it. As indicated in the report by Dr. Rice the speed differential is the real key to maintaining rider safety when sharing the lane. The study says 10 to 15 MPH and I agree that is a good number for us to use. A 15 MPH differential is easy to feel and quite intuitive. Having a speed limit of say 30 MPH in traffic is not that intuitive to grasp. What is worse is the newer rider being unfamiliar with riding in heavy traffic and taking their eyes off the road to look down at his speedometer. This can be very dangerous. Any time your eyes are not up and scanning is precious time where things can start to happen and your reaction time to it is now increased. Every time I see a texting/email reading/phone using driver, I do my best to create distance between us. I definitely do not want them behind me. The problem of cell phone use is pervasive and is getting worse. At some point these inattentive drivers should be treated like DUI drivers when in an accident. They are consciously putting others at risk for their own benefit just like a drunk. It may not feel that way to drivers that partake in it, but it does to experienced riders. There are situations where “not” lane sharing at higher speeds leaves a rider in a dangerous situation. There are plenty of aggressive drivers on the road who will tailgate a rider at 50 MPH leaving that rider at risk. Choosing to protect yourself by finding a safer gap is what I choose to do. The best time to share past vehicles at any time is when they are side by side. If there is a gap available for a vehicle to make a lane change then you have to be fully ready for that vehicle to execute that lane change. At low speed you can anticipate a driver not looking before they change lanes and that increases the danger to you the rider. At higher speeds the drivers become likely to need to change lanes and more likely to check and signal first. However that does not take into account the very aggressive drivers who abruptly and rapidly move through traffic with little regard for anyone’s safety. The good news is those drivers are rare and fairly easy to spot, as they change lanes frequently looking to gain a spot or two. When sharing at higher speeds the less time in between vehicles the better. I roll to the tail of the vehicles and then use a quick acceleration to clear myself from the two vehicles. This is not about using a higher delta, but rather using the superior acceleration of the motorcycle to quickly move to the safer gap. The data shows clearly that the speed differential is more important in injuries than the speed of the splitting itself. This is clear in Dr. Rice’s study. The most dangerous injury for a motorcyclist is head/brain injuries.
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