A US study into filtering

[Kwacky]

I realise it's been done in the States, but it's useful reading

The University of California Berkeley has finished its study of lane-splitting in California, and the results are encouraging for lane-splitting proponents.
Researchers, led by Dr. Thomas Rice of the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC), reviewed nearly 6,000 motorcycle-involved traffic collisions between June 2012 and August 2013, including 997 in which the riders were splitting lanes at the time of the crash.

The big takeaway from this research is that when done reasonably, lane-splitting is just as safe as riding a motorcycle. As such, one of the more important insights found by Rice and his team was that motorcyclists can travel up to 15 mph faster than the flow of traffic with no statistical increase in crashing.

This study will be important for shaping the conversation about lane-splitting, not only in California, but throughout the entire United States. It’s no coincidence then that California’s current attempt to codify lane-splitting mirrors these findings from UC Berkeley.

http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/news/uc ... more-88569" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://lanesplittingislegal.com/assets/ ... 9-2015.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Lane-splitting is safe if done in traffic moving at 50 mph or less, and if motorcyclists do not exceed the speed of other vehicles by more than 15 mph;

69% of lane-splitting motorcyclists were exceeding the traffic speed by 15 mph or less; speed differentials up to 15 mph were not associated with changes in the frequency of injury;

Compared to riders who were not splitting lanes, lane-splitting motorcyclists were markedly less likely to suffer head injury (9% vs. 17%), torso injury (19% vs. 29%) or fatal injury (1.2% vs. 3%);

Lane-splitting riders were significantly less likely to be rear-ended than non-lane-splitting riders (2.6% vs. 4.6%);

Lane-splitting motorcyclists were more likely to be wearing a full-face helmet than other motorcyclists (81% vs. 67%);

Compared to other motorcyclists, lane-splitting riders were more often riding on weekdays and during commuting hours, were using better helmets and were traveling at slower speeds;

Lane-splitting riders were less likely to have been using alcohol.

[Rossgo]

Unsure about whether it really is safe at filtering when traffic is traveling at 50mph, I wouldn't do it! Think the traffic has to be a lot slower for me to think about going between cars!

[Monty]

I'd say the relative speed is important not the actual speed.

[Kwacky]

I filter at speeds above that. Not as a rule but sometimes I can see the problem ahead so I'll get a move on to clear the slower vehicles. I'll also do it when cars start to bunch up or get too near my rear.

[DaytonaBuff]

Seconded on the relative speed comment. Also, if the traffic is flowing rather than stop-start crawling, there is less likelihood of cars suddenly changing lanes without looking.