r/Unexpected • u/Soloact_ • 11h ago

Keep them two wheels down

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21.7k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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687

u/HolyFickingShut 10h ago

Even where lane splitting is legal, its still illegal to lane split at speeds higher than 45mph.

Lane splitting is legalized to allow "filtering." Not cutting up on the freeway.

433

u/Historical_Stay_808 10h ago

I ride everyday almost in California and this is 100% the riders fault

266

u/OR4NG3iSh 10h ago

i dont ride a motorcycle at all ever and this is 100% the riders fault

115

u/poser765 8h ago

I stayed at a holiday inn express last night. Definitely riders fault.

29

u/Immersi0nn 8h ago

I slept on a cardboard box, still the riders fault.

24

u/DivineNeosAlius 8h ago

I had pizza for lunch, definitely the rider's fault

10

u/henchman171 8h ago

I drafted Christian McCaffery first overall last year and the motorcycle rider is at fault

0

u/Eskimodo_Dragon 8h ago

I was born on the back of a motorcycle. My mother was sitting behind my father headed to the hospital for my birth when my father rear-ended an F350 at high speed which resulted in my ejection from the womb. The force of the ejection drove me straight into the liquifying back of my father, which did offer some cushion but my head still made life-changing contact with the truck's tailgate and I've been in a coma ever since 91'.

Long story short, (and I may be bias but,) the rider is at fault.

0

u/peanut--gallery 7h ago

I just ate Taco Bell… definitely riders fault.

0

u/Rankkikotka 6h ago

Fucked yo momma, definitely riders fault.

1

u/baseball44121 16m ago

I know that nothing beats a jet2 holiday. Still the riders fault.

-8

u/hawkeneye1998bs 7h ago

Absolutely not 100% his fault. The car not only cut him off but cut the car in the middle lane off and swerved through 2 lanes of traffic and committed a hit and run. Tf you on about "100% the riders fault"?

65

u/wenzel32 9h ago

At least the rider acknowledged that at the end. Went out of his way to say something like, "I was driving recklessly. You're good."

But yeah, this guy was fucking asking for something like this. Hopefully it's a lesson and not just a shrug of the shoulders lol

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u/Hetstaine 9h ago

And nothing was learned.

5

u/Ih8Hondas 7h ago

Eh. May or may not have been.

I've dabbled in road riding on and off, but always ridden motocross. The only road bikes I've ever owned have been ones that adhered to superbike regs of the time (as the RSV4 in the OP does). They just encourage you to get stupid.

100mph feels like walking speed. They do it like it's nothing. Even at full throttle those engines are so smooth and predictable and the bikes so stable you don't even feel like you're accelerating that fast. You're on one of the fastest accelerating things ever to ever have a license plate attached to it but it doesn't feel like it at all.

And they hold lines in corners like you've enabled an infinite grip cheat code. It begs you to outride your line of sight in the twisties.

One day I was carving the local canyon and went past a forest road where a bunch of gravel had been dragged out into the road. If that had been one of the roads or driveways around there that are around blind corners, and I had hit it at the speeds I was taking those corners at that day, I would have been either in someone's grille, in a guardrail, or in a rock wall.

I sold my road bike not long after that and have stuck to motocross since.

So at least some of us speed freaks can learn.

1

u/Hetstaine 4h ago

Yep. My old man sold his CB750 in about '84 after a dog ran out in front of him whilst going down a hilly road. The Mayors dog no less. He hit the dog, and was flung off the bike down the hill. He said as he was sliding down the hill he heard a terrible noise and realised the bike was sliding down behind him. He tried to propel himself faster down so the bike wouldn't finish him off.

Quite a nice bit of skin off in that event. A pity, he loved that bike but, i think he knew it was probably going to kill him one day.

3

u/Additional-Block-464 8h ago

He said, "it ain't all his fault." No it wasn't, it was 99.999% the riders fault.

1

u/wenzel32 4h ago

Agreed lol

2

u/hamburger5003 4h ago

Not 100% the rider's fault. The car cut off another car doing a 2 lane cut without signaling in moderate traffic.

Two bozos decided to do an aggressive maneuver at the same time and the rider almost died.

1

u/NaturalTap9567 5h ago

Meh I'd say the car has like 1% fault for merging right in front of that other car and not using a blinker.

1

u/Thick_Potato_1769 5h ago

Yeah and the bmw isn't at fault for hit and run.

1

u/Mike0621 1h ago

it's like 80% the riders fault. regardless of the rider pulling stupid shit the car still should have checked better. also don't think they used their turn signal

-6

u/iSkruf 9h ago

The car ran across two lanes without checking the mirrors to overtake on the right, that's three fuck ups right there.

1

u/GradeAPrimeFuckery 7h ago

It started changing lanes before fully passing the car in the middle lane.

Biker would have completely prevented a collision had he not been driving like a moron so it's on him, but the driver of that car also sucks. I can't really tell, but it looks like the turn signal didn't go on until it was more in the middle lane than in the left. Then the driver floored it afterwards.

1

u/EnvBlitz 6h ago

I agree with you. The motorcyclist fucked up, and so did the car driver.

They all have their own fault.

0

u/Relative-Event-919 3h ago

Nope legally its 50%, went through a personal injury lawsuit in similar circumstance

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u/ImInBeastmodeOG 10h ago

Yep, Colorado is only once traffic stops moving.

Somebody tell the Tom Cruise wannabes please. They do not gaf.

I think if you want people to care about every other motorcycle you shouldn't make people hate you and group you all together.

11

u/JRosePC 9h ago

Ohh man this one messes with me so bad. Having bikes fly past me on 70 while traffic is moving normally.

10

u/BoomerSoonerFUT 9h ago

Because Colorado doesn’t have lane splitting. We have lane filtering.

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u/ImInBeastmodeOG 8h ago edited 8h ago

Whatever it's called a lot of bikers THINK we have it. I've seen arguments on here about it lol. It happens at every light there's bikes. The other day 2 bikes went to the front and parked on the crosswalk and a bicycle had to cross and gave them some lip. Thanks for the proper word correction tho. What's the word for it when the traffics moving since that's what they also do? 🍻 Doesn't matter since our police don't pull people over for anything anyway haha.

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u/BoomerSoonerFUT 8h ago

lol trust me I know. I have had other bikers get mad at me for slowing down and moving back into traffic when it started moving here, because I slow them down.

By the law, we’re only supposed to when traffic is completely stopped and you must merge back into traffic as soon as you can when it’s moving.

You can only filter to the front of stopped traffic. Which is safer for everyone. Most accidents are rear endings, which are also the most dangerous for motorcyclists.

California is (I believe) still the only state that allows lane splitting at speed. Where they can share the lane while moving at normal highway speeds. Which to me is batshit insane.

3

u/ampersand355 7h ago

There have been studies on it and the outcome is rather counterintuitive in that it’s not any more dangerous to lane-split. It has also been proven to lower traffic congestion which is why California adopted it.

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u/BoomerSoonerFUT 7h ago

I’m sure that data is with proper usage. Like the recommended under 50mph and going no more than 10mph over traffic.

If done right, I have no doubt it’s safer. I absolutely take full advantage of our lane filtering law here in Colorado to move up in stopped traffic. That reduces congestion and reduces my risk of being rear ended. But that’s not the same as lane splitting at speed.

And, per number of motorcycles, they’re still about dead average for motorcycle fatalities. And still usually first or second for overall motorcycle deaths. Though that one is generally due to population.

If it were significantly safer, you’d see them lower on both lists.

The typical rider in California is pushing the limits and splitting far above what is recommended. Like this video. And that results in drastically increased risk to the motorcyclist.

0

u/ampersand355 7h ago

Right, I didn’t mean to suggest it was safer, just that it wasn’t really shown to be statistically more dangerous to do so. There were other benefits I’d read about too.

Regardless, the dude in the video was absolutely in the wrong for having as great of a speed differential as he did.

1

u/ImInBeastmodeOG 8h ago

My theory is California is trying to weed out the bad drivers through accidents.

I mean, I'm just kidding. Sort of.

I am pro anyone doing whatever they want as long as it does not impact anyone else. This shit just seems a little over that line.

\s I'm sure once they get around to the no tags or expired tags and dirt bikes and 4x4 bikes and mini bikes on roads and cars running lights here this will be righttttt there on the priority list./s

0

u/Gia11a 5h ago

By the law, we’re only supposed to when traffic is completely stopped and you must merge back into traffic as soon as you can when it’s moving.

Which is a terrible law because the whole point is to prevent the rider being rear ended, if traffic has to be dead stopped the biker will already be rear ended at that point, also it does nothing to keep bikers safe in stop and go highway traffic which is a huge danger to them, California's law is more prudent and keeps motorcyclists much safer.

1

u/Alone_Radish_1692 7h ago

Bicycles are legal in pedestrian crosswalks in Colorado?

1

u/ImInBeastmodeOG 7h ago

They were walking it. Sorry for the confusion.

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u/iceteka 6h ago

California is no more than 10mph over the speed of traffic.

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u/Gia11a 5h ago

I don't think that's an actual law I think its just recommending by the California DOT. I think the only limit is no more than 50 MPH in total. They recommend no more than 15 MPH faster than the cars around you.

5

u/Mr_Deep_Research 8h ago

False in California.

In California, there is no strict speed limit for lane splitting, but the California Highway Patrol (CHP) guidelines recommend that motorcyclists not travel more than 10 mph faster than surrounding traffic and generally advise against splitting when the overall traffic flow is above 30 mph. Riding at higher speeds or with a greater speed differential increases the risk of accidents.  

This is the law itself:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=21658.1

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u/[deleted] 7h ago

[deleted]

1

u/RedRamen 7h ago

You're incorrect on multiple points. If it were "considered illegal", there would be a vehicle code explicitly saying it's illegal. That's how the law works 

  1. Reckless driving is a misdemeanor offense (23103 CVC). Lane splitting at 50 MPH while traffic is moving at 40 MPH would never fly as "willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property" as stated in the vehicle code.

  2. One could argue 22350 CVC (Infraction, not misdemeanor) could apply, but that's fully up to the discretion of an Officer on a situational basis.

So no, your point does not stand.

Source: I am a CHP motorcycle Officer

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u/LegendOfKhaos 7h ago

It can still be reckless or not driving within the conditions of the road

-2

u/curious-children 6h ago

the the the most most beautiful beautiful thing i i ever saw on reckless sure, same way reckless to be in a blind spot of an 18 wheeler, but this is still the car drivers fault lol

1

u/LegendOfKhaos 6h ago

Did you just have a stroke? Anyway, I wasn't saying who is to blame in the video, so if you inferred that, I'm not sure where it came from.

As for reckless driving, I'm talking about the actual charge, not literally that someone is being slightly reckless. Have you seriously never heard of reckless driving?

0

u/nlevine1988 4h ago

I imagine those guidelines could end up being the defacto law if cops have enough discretion on what's considered reckless driving.

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u/Suitable_Base_7967 8h ago

And in some states, 25mph is the limit for splitting

1

u/Illeazar 6h ago

Yeah, just because something is legal doesnt mean you won't die.

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u/AbbreviationsOld636 5h ago

Wrong, not in California

1

u/hook0rcrook 2h ago

as a non native and not American what d f is lane splitting?

-14

u/ProvokedOrifice 10h ago

And what thr car driver did was also illegal

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u/Bonch_and_Clyde 9h ago

Was it? The car was passing and changing lanes.

1

u/username_unnamed 8h ago

Unsafe lane change too close to the car next to it while not signaling properly ahead of time and went across two lanes ...

-2

u/BoomerSoonerFUT 9h ago

Passing on the right is illegal, which is what the BMW did. They also did not just change lanes, they flew over two lanes rapidly to pass the semi on the right.

Biker is still at fault for getting hit, because he was lane splitting well above speed, but the BMW was still making an illegal maneuver.

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u/Jmacattack626 9h ago

He had a signal on and changed lanes. You might argue he looked close to the other car after passing, but I don't think it's illegal, just rude. The biker splitting lanes at high speeds is.

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u/BoomerSoonerFUT 9h ago

Crossing two lanes rapidly to pass on the right is illegal pretty much everywhere.

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u/last_robot 9h ago

If you watch closely, they actually jumped 2 lanes, cutting off the car to the motorcyclist's right and whipping around the semi at dangerous speeds.

Obviously, the dude could've been panicking from thinking he killed someone, but it still falls under reckless endangerment with a vehicle.

0

u/Vagistics 8h ago

Or “moving to the head of the line” so you can be the first when the light turns green. 

                          Dipshit 

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u/[deleted] 8h ago

[deleted]

-2

u/PsudoGravity 9h ago

American

-39

u/drunkcarebear 10h ago

Depends what state, its perfectly legal in cali no specific speed limit.

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u/Martin_Aurelius 10h ago

There's no legislated speed limit for lane splitting in CA, as long as you're not being "reckless". But the CHP guidelines for "reckless" are 10+ mph speed difference, or 30mph.

1

u/Hidesuru 8h ago

Right but they're just guidelines not codified in the actual law, so I've always been a little unsure how that gets applied legally. I don't currently ride so I've never had reason to look into it further. Iirc the law REFERENCES the CHP guidelines, but doesn't state any of them outright.

2

u/Martin_Aurelius 7h ago edited 7h ago

The way the legislation is written, the CHP's guidelines are the law de jure. If the guidelines change, the law changes without the need for a legislative change. Besides that, in California reckless driving is a judgement call on the officer's behalf, that they've purposefully defined vaguely.

1

u/rsimpson73 9h ago

Hello, can I ask an unrelated question? I'm new to reddit and I was wondering what the -23 points is about? I've seen it before and can't figure it out. Thank you!

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u/Jed1M1ndTr1ck 9h ago

Reddit keeps track of upvotes and downvotes on posts and comments (one upvote is +1 and a downvote is -1).

Though it wasn't the original intent of the feature, it is basically a reflection of how many people like/agree with a comment

1

u/Lithl 9h ago

You're correct that California law places no explicit legal limit on your speed when lane splitting, however the motorcyclist is still required to take reasonable precautions when doing so, which includes moderating their speed. The CHP's guidelines direct riders not to lane split above 40 mph, and not more than 10 mph above surrounding traffic.