Bikes lane-splitting

[Lhshockey24]

There's a reason my wife and I call these donorcycles-
https://www.ghsa.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/ghsa_motorcyclists18.pdf

5,286 motorcycle deaths on US roads in 2016.

 

[TyH2009]

I just had this happen this morning, a bike lane splitting, not the mirror thing, I was on AP too, car didn't do anything different, but I saw the little bike show up on the screen. I didn't save the dashcam file, or else I would post it.

As a (former) motorcycle rider, I have never, and will never split lanes. It's way too dangerous out there even riding 100% normal. Way too many close calls, which is one reason why I sold my bike.

 

[Dogtone]

Approaching Bicycles with AP on makes me very nervous, about as nerve wracking as motorcyclists on the freeways around LA. Bicycles are in abundance in Tucson and many riders like to ride on the white line even when they have 3 feet of bike lane, so my response is to move slightly left to give them room. AP doesn’t like that. It shows me what a long way Tesla has to go to make AP safe on local roads.

 

[groovidad]

If a biker is so impatient that they can't just go with the flow, like the majority of vehicle drivers, they deserve what they get. Sorry, I have no patience for splitting lanes, cutting cars off, weaving in and out of traffic. There is no responsiblity .

 

[mkspeedr]

As someone who commutes everyday on two wheels the frustration is both ways.

The fast lane has become the zombie lane for texting and auto pilot. I am so tired of Tesla drivers on AP blocking the fast lane. For some reason they think they set the allowable speeding mph - 70, 75 or 80 - then they dont ever move for faster vehicles.

Motorcyclist should not get mad at people driving in the center of the lane. They should get mad when people intentionally move to block or swerve. FYI - That happens daily.

A motorcyclist who hits a mirror is not qualified to lane split - I have never hit a mirror in 35 years of splitting but I do split very very very slow.

 

[Paddy3101]

I really enjoy using AP on rush hour traffic and it had significantly lowered my morning/evening commute stress level

However, AP is doing so well at keeping the car centered in the lane. I have had many encounters with bikers lane-splitting passing me while I'm on the HOV lane and they always seem to be too close to the car while passing. I'm not blaming them for passing since that's a perfectly legal thing to do here, I just want to know if there is a way to configure AP to recognize bikes passing and make some maneuvers to make room for them.

This is not me but I thought it sums up why we need such a feature.

Personally, as a AP user and a motorcycle rider.

If i'm splitting lanes I'd much rather the car/truck/whatever just keeps driving their own coarse, and let me decide if/when I want to pass. (I only do it when the traffic is slow/stopped)

If a car pulls over (especially over the lane line), they are just as likely to pull back again, just at the wrong time. A car going straight, is more likely to carry on going in that direction.

There are many reasons the car may be moving over, and as a motorbike, I assume that no car as seen me. So a car changing directions, when I'm looking to pass it, is a Red Flag.

 

[d21mike]

The problem with this video is that it takes a general everyday issue and turns it into a Tesla issue.

Not really. The issue is related to Tesla Autopilot which centers the car in the lane. I assume other Lane Assist cars would do the same so there is that.

Here is how I replied on the other site:

I normally do not commute but recently I needed to drive to LA (heavy 405 traffic) where I was in the car pool lane. I did this for 6 weeks daily and the speed for most of the way was around 20mph or less. Many times motorcycles would split the lane to my right. For the most part I stayed on autopilot and they seem to have no problem going past me (model S). Sometimes going very fast. Most were not as wide as that bike in the video. However, there were times when I notice they could not get by and in those cases I dropped out of autopilot and moved a little to the left. And the bikers were appreciative. With that said, I think if autopilot could hug maybe 2 feet to the left when going < 30 mph (or so) that would really help this situation I think. I still have a motorcycle and I have in the past rode on the freeway (very very little) and I understand the advantage of lane splitting and have no problem with it if done safely. Autopilot could help by moving just a little to the left in this situation.

 

[Rex Kramer]

I'm not willing to sacrifice my distance from the 4k pound vehicle to my left just to give a 500lb bike more room while lane splitting.

Almost all riders will split the #1 and #2 lanes only. Any rider splitting other lanes on the regular has a riding career expectancy of about a year. Splitting #1/#2 gives the #1 lane driver some room to edge over to the left without concern of a nearby vehicle. If it's any other lane split, drivers have no room at all to move anyways, so no sane rider should expect you to accommodate them.

But, of course, rules and sanity don't necessarily apply to outlaw clubs.

 

[jjh1234]

From what I remember in my time living in CA, lane splitting was supposed to allow air cooled bikes a chance to keep moving slowly in congested traffic so they didn't overheat. I think there was a cap on the speeds lane splitting was allowed. In this day and age, I don't
think bikes are as susceptible to this kind of problem anyhow.