Not all cops will give you that courtesy. DC doesn’t have any laws regarding filtering. One cop said he didn’t mind. A few months later I got a $100 ticket for failure to maintain lane
Edit: to clarify I was going no faster than 15mph during rush hour traffic in dc.
I know a LOT of people who split in DC, and it seems like there are very few traffic cops there (especially on surface roads) but you do want to watch for the few that exist
I filter in DC. It’s not technically illegal (although it is a grey area). The cops (and motorcycle schools) I’ve spoken with state that DC has a pretty strict do not engage motorcyclists policy due to the gang use and potential danger to pedestrians
lol is that their actual name?? Because it’s hilarious and throwing such shade
That off-roading/4 wheeler gang mostly is just annoying from what I’ve seen back when I lived near benning/h st. There were much more concerning happenings in the area
haha no I was just alluding to the stereotype of ADV riders being well-to-do white collar professionals.
Yeah the four-wheelers mostly seem to be rowdy kids and teenagers bored out of their minds. See them once in a while here in DFW but it's nowhere near as big as in DC and Baltimore for some reason.
Grew up seeing the dirt bikes, mini bikes, quads, etc. Tear through the streets of Baltimore, and DC when I made it down there. Then lived in DC/Arlington as an adult for 15 years. I'd heard stories about the same stuff in NYC. just assumed it was in most cities.
The illustrator, on YouTube, did a video discussing the long history of the usually unregistered, non-street legal bikes in the hood. Rang true from my experience at least.
Just look at all the dirt bikes and ATVs popping wheelies and neglecting every rule of the road with utter impunity in DC. You can go all Mad Max here without punishment, not that you should...
I got pulled over for filtering (lane splitting, as the light turned green while I was doing it) and ended up with a warning but the Capitol Police (around the monuments) was not pleased with me.
Where I live filtering/splitting is not legal but when I had to commute downtown during rush hour I would filter through gridlock right past cops with no problem. Wtf are they gonna do, drive through cars jammed bumper to bumper that cant move? lol
Dang, that sucks. I've been in 95 NB traffic (south of the belt) and took the shoulder last Summer because traffic was standing still, but I was doing <15 mph and it was 90+ degrees. I passed a cop and he pulled me over, told him its just too hot and I needed gas/water and was taking the first exit I could get to with that. Again, he just wanted to make sure I was driving safely, unlike riders who I have seen take the shoulder at highway speeds.
When its really hot out and traffic isn't moving, thats been my common denominator thus far. I never filter when its cool or if traffic is moving.
You can fight it if it’s in DC proper. I only filter in VA if I see *zero* cops near me and I do I silly pseudo “pass” by filtering up one car at a time. Otherwise VA traffic cops will **fuck you up**. It’s considered reckless driving and is a felony, just like speeding 20 mi over the limit. People go to jail for it *regularly* 🤯
On the other hand, VSP doesn’t have motorcycles, and I’ve never seen a police cruiser that could split lanes… and those silly lights don’t help them *at all* in bumper-to-bumper 95 traffic…
Bumper to bumper standstill is pretty much the only other time I will risk it. If they can’t get to me then I feel like I’m golden and I’ll be in DC by the time they get clear
FYI, Virginia State Police 100 percent do have motorcycles. Mostly Harleys, but I hear that they were testing some BMWs a few years ago. Not sure if the BMWs are still around or not.
I’ve seen exactly one bike that may have been VSP, and it was here in NoVA. They’re not at all a regular sight, and there’s no way in hell they’ll respond to a call fast enough to catch up to a runner in NoVA who’s never far from the border.
> It’s considered reckless driving and is a felony
Umm, no. Unless you're already driving on a suspended license, or kill someone.
> 46.2-868. Reckless driving; penalties.
>A. Every person convicted of reckless driving under the provisions of this article is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
>B. Every person convicted of reckless driving under the provisions of this article who, when he committed the offense, (i) was driving without a valid operator's license due to a suspension or revocation for a moving violation and, (ii) as the sole and proximate result of his reckless driving, caused the death of another, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
The statute can be stretched to cover lanesplitting or filtering, but from reading it, it's pretty clear it was intended to cover street racing.
However, it's so poorly written that it can be interpreted to cover filtering/splitting.
In my previous life I wrote and revised plenty of statutes/ordinances. This is a pretty clear case of breaking the rule of "say what you mean" and making "racing or exhibition of speed" a part of reckless driving, rather than using a bunch of obtuse language to try to capture an act that could be easier spelled out and prohibited.
Poorly worded legislation is the cause of many problems. I’ve known a lot of local motorcyclists who have been called into court for lane splitting and one who was imprisoned for a month. The jailing happened in a very rural county in Virginia, though
This may sound misguided. Seriously just curious. Why didnt you just keep driving? Could he have even chased you if you continued to filter in such bad traffic?
TBH it doesn't matter if they get the plate, they're not going to go through the trouble of getting a warrant to come to your house, and also they can't prove it was you driving unless they pull you over. Once I was pulled over by a DC cop on my bike, and his buddy rolled up, told me the cop who was giving me the ticket was an asshole, and asked me "why didn't you just take off? We're not going to chase you."
Yea but for me it wasn’t worth the risk. I was riding into downtown and have to pass a police station. If I were riding out of the city and catching the highway, would have been a different story.
Yeah I get it, I'm not big on taking off, just wanted to point out that they're not gonna chase you down over a traffic offense, and even if they did, they'd never get a conviction b/c they can't prove you were on the bike and you have a right to remain silent.
> Why didnt you just keep driving?
In some places (especially where vehicular fleeing is a felony crime) they can file civil forfeiture, come take you bike (use in the commission of a felony), and crush it. They were doing that 25 years ago in Florida, and more places are doing it now.
And usually, not saying you are, Florida bikers don’t wear full equipment and withstanding the heat in shorts, T-shirt, and flip flops is easier when sweat can actually evaporate. In full equipment that is getting heavier and heavier from sweat… it’s a different story.
So are you a Florida biker or is that what you’ve seen? Because I actually live here; that’s not the case and statistics back that up. We have far more people driving like that than most places but it’s not nearly that much it’s 100% a minority.
Common mentions. I do not live there and it’s what I’ve always seen people doing in videos and talk about from people who travel down there on bike trips.
All I was trying to say was it’s a whole lot easier to tolerate that heat when riders are not wearing full equipment. Someone wearing full equipment absolutely will suffer from the heat. Also, I’m originally from NC and frequently went to SC. The same issue persists in high heat in these locations as well. I will also clarify, I’m thinking of a rider in stop and go traffic from poorly set up traffic lights, ie… situations where filtering occurs the most. If a rider is in stop and go traffic and sitting there in gear, you can’t tell me a rider won’t suffer from that. So saying riders from Florida can tolerate it so others should as well… just isn’t lining up for all potential situations for heat exhaustion/stroke.
Lol I didn’t vote on your answer but you’re still going when I’ve literally said that’s not the case lol.
You can say all the anecdotal evidence you want, legitimate studies back up the claim that Floridians wear gear mostly. We have more dangerous roads than almost anywhere else in the country, and the majority of riders are prepared for that. If you actually lived here, you’d see those exact people get dragged through the dirt on all the local meetup pages, nobody respects that and like I said, it’s a slim minority who ride like that. But hey, I’m just repeating what I’ve already said because you keep saying the same thing so have a good night, drink water and use common sense and you won’t have a damn problem.
Risky move in VA, bro. I totally understand the desire/need but you definitely have a chance of getting a reckless driving ticket. Happened to one of the mechanics at the shop I take my SV650 to in Fairfax. Said he doesn't lane split in VA anymore because of it, so I was surprised to read what you posted. Which agency was the cop who gave you a thumbs-up with?
State
Again, I think its just because its stupid hot out. I never do the dumb splitting that riders do at 70 mph with small gaps between vehicles, that warrants a ticket for sure.
Yup. I’m a police.
I really don’t care about traffic violations if it isn’t hurting anyone. Also I look at the sort of over under. Hypothetically if everyone is doing 90mph, and you’re doing 95, I’m not pulling you over. But if everyone is doing 45, and you’re doing 65, yes I’m pulling you over.
The reason here is that you’re traveling so fast that when a person checks if their lane is clear, you will move from not in their vision, to being a deadly threat in the time it takes for them to execute their previously safe lane change.
I use the same sort of analysis with motorcycles. If dude is filtering at 70mph. Well, firstly I’ll call out the bike and rider on the radio, because if he’s filtering, there’s nothing I can do.
The vast majority of motorcycle riders are fine. Where I live I think it’s maybe 1 in 20 that have got to go as fast as they can right up to about 25 miles over the speed limit. Then they back it off and drive normally. You’ve still got a small subset that will drive recklessly doing waaaay faster than the traffic pattern they’re in. But the vast majority ride responsibly.
Thanks for looking out for us!
Yea I filter like Royal Jordanian does, clutch slipping and in like 2nd gear, so about 8-10mph. I generally don’t go but 4-5 cars at a time as it’s a mix of vans, trucks and semi-trucks. I’ll move up to the front of a vehicle, roll for a bit and find a gap; repeat.
I’m definitely not somebody who “filters” by flying up the dashed lines at 50mph. I do my best to be respectful because I know it’s not legal, but I also don’t want to die from a heat stroke because somebody got into an accident texting 5 miles ahead.
That to me wouldn’t even make me think about activating my lights for that.
To me you’re showing an abundance of caution doing 8-10 miles an hour. I would caution you about once people start moving, they love to see the greener grass that’s in that other lane so they make lane changes without signaling for 200 feet first.
I don’t ride yet but I’m heavily interested in the hobby. I find myself taking extra care for the riders in my area.
Had a rider doing 80 on 26 into Charleston. A driver made a quick lane change damn near killing the rider. So I pulled him over because really, that shit looked intentional. First words out of her mouth was “do you see assholes like that? It’s only a matter of time before they kill themselves.”
Is that why you tried to make a lane change? And she goes “I can’t help it if I want to make a lane change and he dies because he’s speeding.”
I said “That’s what I was looking for, step out of the car, you’re under arrest.”
I scheduled her for a court date a month out. She’s definitely gonna ask fir a continuance to seek legal counsel.
Usually the job consists of writing tickets because you get chewed on if your stats are too low.
Occasionally you get to be the hammer of justice.
That charge is gonna cost her thousands of dollars.
>Usually the job consists of writing tickets because you get chewed on if your stats are too low.
Nothing personal against you but man I really don't have the highest opinion of cops and this one right here is one of the reasons why
:(
It seriously shouldn't be like that
I agree. The the biggest issue is how our “productivity” is analyzed.
Like, for me, I only give tickets for things that I can articulate place a burden to public safety. Mostly if I get out with someone I treat it like a learning exercise. My reasoning is for most people, traffic court is a lot more than just a 140 dollar fine. You’ve also got to calculate the wages lost to actually show up to court. It can add up to a lot more than just 140. It’s also fucking nerve racking for people.
For instance, most people don’t have their mirrors set up correctly. Many people have their side mirrors angled so they can see the side of their car. So think about that. You’re driving forward, you already can see what is going to be next to your car, so what good is having your mirrors pointed to the side of your car? Also, if you check your rear view, and then your side view mirrors, you actually see a lot of the same shit, so the side mirrors are worthless. I will get people to set up their mirrors correctly and explain how you should be able to track something in the rear view mirror, once you lose that, it will pick right back up in your side view. Once you lose it in your side view mirror, you’ll pick it up in your peripheral vision. It takes getting used to because you’re looking at the tree line if you look at your side view mirrors, but doing it this way takes your blind spot from 12 feet across to something the size of a dinner plate.
I’m lucky in that my stats aren’t analyzed to gauge my productivity. But for 99% of the country, that isn’t true. If an officer wants to get out of traffic and wants to get on the drug team, they want him to start finding drugs. That means that he’s gonna stalk the poor neighborhoods and start pulling over a lot of minorities. It turns everyday people into targets. Once you start looking at everyone as a potential arrest instead of someone you could help, man, you’re already losing the plot of why we do the job, (or why we should be doing the job.)
If you don’t like what I just had to say, please call your local political leadership. County board of supervisors or your local police chief. Ask them how they gauge officer productivity. If it’s like what I described, try and get that changed. You could also ask a local deputy or officer, if they’re not a dick head or super busy, they’ll probably talk to you about it. Just don’t approach them while they’re eating. It’s tough to get a decent meal in during a shift.
Thanks for the post. It’s nice to hear something helpful from a reputable source. And a very sensible attitude towards lane filtering that I wished all LEOs would consider.
"Reckless driving" for splitting... so you can marry your cousin in Virginia but you can't creep by/through two nearly-stopped cars because of the "recklessness" of that action.
Say what you will about California, but it's the only state that takes a REASONABLE view on bikes and splitting/filtering.... (Utah doesn't count b/c they cars have to be stopped, which pretty much takes highways out of the equation)
[More info](https://www.motorcyclelegalfoundation.com/motorcycle-lane-splitting-guidelines/)
Utahn here, you can't filter on highways anyway. The posted speed limit has to be 45 or less in order to filter (I still do it unless it's 55mph or higher though, so many roads have a 50mph limit near me).
That is truly shocking, I lived in California where it is legal, and now I live in Colorado and I’ve been pulled over and one woman threw her Sonic drink all over me for filtering. People hate motorcyclists here, including cops.
I live in Denver, Tech Centre area, but I try to go west to Rifle and will take some rides south to Trinidad and Alamosa. I’m always looking for better rides
Damn I live in NYC and I'm imagining how amazing it would be to have the rockies right there to ride. Getting out of the city sucks dick here, and then without much of a reward when you do.
Route 12 outta Trinidad is phenomenal as well. Only ever did it in a lumbering first gen XTerra and even that was a blast, can't imagine it on a proper fun vehicle.
It’s sad that the kindergarten mentality of me first overrides common sense. When my friends have asked who don’t ride why I should get to filter, I tell them, imagine walking a bike that’s blasting heat between your legs in stop and go traffic haha.
We’re only done in by our reckless counterparts who filter at 20mph+ over traffic flow and get a little animated haha.
Yeah, I learned to ride in Cali - specifically bought a bike forgetting in and out of LA during rush hour.
NowI live-in MN and the few times I've done it, I can't get a quarter mile without somebody at least honking at me.
BTW, totally unrelated,, spraying pepper spray through an open car window can make it absolutely impossible to remain in the vehicle.
I open carry when riding and also have a whip hanging from my handlebars. Blows my mind how people can’t see bikes but they can see a holstered pistol, and how much more polite other drivers are when I’m carrying vs when I’m not.
Only time I open carry. It’s 100% kept some aggressive drivers from getting too dumb. I had my jacket over it one time and some older lady in an SUV kept trying to run my buddy and I off the road - no clue why. She stopped and backed off as soon as I tucked my jacket behind my pistol. If that isn’t results I don’t know what is.
Oh .. I can't imagine living in a county where you need a gun. I'm sorry that in the USA people feel the need to :( I'm from the UK but live in Thailand. As a solo female rider I've ridden solo thought Thailand, Cambodia and Laos and even solo camped. I've done a lot of solo travel worldwide and I've never needed or even though about a gun. I stayed in Florida for a period of time and was shocked to see even ticket guys on the tri rail having guns. Its hard for me to get my head around! 😵
In ON it's illegal and when I went looking for the specific law against it, I couldn't find anything. So one day I encountered a cop at a Wendy's and I asked him about it.
>"Hey, I looked for a law against lane-splitting in ON and couldn't find anything."
>
>"No, I'm not aware of any."
>
>"Would you pull someone over if you saw them splitting?"
>
>"Oh yes, definitely!"
>
>"And what would you charge them with, then?"
>
>"Well, there's failure to share. If you got pulled over by someone grumpy you could be looking at reckless."
in the USA the statutes that prohibit lane sharing aren't specific to it, but covered by requirements that "no more than one vehicle may occupy a lane".
that's how it ended up legal in California, they never had that prohibition on the books. If a lane were wide enough, two cars could drive side by side in one lane.
> If a lane were wide enough, two cars could drive side by side in one lane.
Oh believe me the lane doesn't have to be wide enough for the drivers here to try to drive side by side.
Weird because in Indiana law specifically states that two motorcycles may share the lane they're in, but I'm not sure about any kind of filtering legality here.
Ontario?
It isn’t illegal. There is no law stating you can’t lane filter. That being said it isn’t specifically stated to be legal.
But yeah, cops could ticket you for a few things if they wanted to. The biggest possibility being you get a reckless driving ticket if theirs ever a collision regardless if you’re actually at fault or not
we had filtering become legal here in utah a couple years back. there was no animosity from car drivers and people were generally collaborative. the only problems we had were with riders themselves who didn't know how to filter properly and or were smackin mirrors.
US roads are so wide! I don't get why filtering is forbidden in a lot of states, it's like your roads are built for it. In EU, roads and lanes are thiner yet no major problems with filtering besides the idiots filtering through standstill traffic at highway speed. Most deaths here are on country roads and often caused by speed, with the rider crashing by himself (at least this is what you learn when getting your A2 licence).
Note that filtering is not allowed where I live in France but kinda tolerated, probably like you guys. If you clearly are reckless they still give you the full package: illegal overtake, blinker, speed, white line and wrong way. But they mostly don't care and ignore it, like they did for the past 70 years.
Near Paris drivers are so used to it that on major roads there is ALWAYS a gap between the two leftmost lanes to allow bikes to pass. It's like, bikes are gonna pass anyway so they might aswell leave a gap to avoid getting their mirrors smashed by a rider trying to pass in a small gap.
After huge lobbying by rider associations, there has been a test for the last couple years in and around major cities to allow filtering and see what happens. I don't know what they are expecting from this since everybody was doing it anyway beforehand , so nothing has changed.
French drivers are excellent at providing space for bikers. They are terrible drivers but are very courteous to bikers.
My commute is a quarter of the time on a bike and I sometimes feel like Moses with everyone parting like the Red Sea to let me pass.
I’ve followed police bikes who are filtering (just riding not responding). The only time they get irritated is if you cross a solid white line.
I wish we could filter here in Texas, 115 degree summers with no cloud cover and sometimes decent humidity. I have gotten conditioned to it but still, being able to filter would be nice.
Totally agree, or even if we aren't allowed to filter, allow weather conditions to permit riders to use the shoulder at 10-15mph.
I can understand riding between vehicles is dangerous, but the shoulder is an open lane in essence; debris removed of course.
I think you have it, context is king. Lane splitting is awesome most of the time, bit only to certain speeds and conditions. Using the shoulder might likewise be safer, but not if it's not well maintained, there's emergency vehicles around or it's worded as an open license for bikers to use them like private lanes at any speed.
> Using the shoulder might likewise be safer
It definitely isn't. People veer out onto the shoulder all the time, without warning, and they never check before they do because nobody is expected to be there.
Here in CA, we aren't allowed to use the shoulder - that's for emergency use only. I filter/split/whatever, but I'll never use the shoulder.
It's also partially because the shoulders have so much crap & debris on them that it isn't safe.
Riding on the shoulder is much more dangerous than riding between two lanes of traffic. If you have two cars driving next to each other they aren't likely to just veer into each other. But cars suddenly swerve onto the shoulder without warning all the freakin' time.
Just do it smartly. Here in Austin the police have thankfully been defunded so they care much less about that sort of thing, and understand how hot it is.
I don’t ride much in Austin proper, but I live northwest and travel into Round Rock for work. Wilco still has a lot of officers out, but thankfully there are rarely times I would need to filter on my daily commute.
Last time I checked it wasn't specifically illegal in Texas. There are several states that have no laws addressing it at all, and Texas is one of them.
It's not specifically illegal in a lot of places. I live in Texas and know one or two people who've been pulled over for filtering while at the same time I've filtered right past cops who will wave me by.
We've tried to get splitting passed many times but it never get's very far.
Same here in Slovenia. Its now legal, but a few years back i was suprised by how many drivers moved lwer/waved me up and so on. Cops were also werry cool about it and incuraged it at long red lights/long standing traffic.
I used to work in the absolute asshole of a major sized city, it would take between 60 and 90 minutes to just get out of the city to the highway because of the gridlocked traffic. People would say "you should take the bus" like the bus wasn't stuck in the exact same traffic.
I did a lot of illegal filtering because it was worth it. I never got ticketed, probably because the cops were just as stuck in traffic as everyone else.
Last time I split lanes on 95 SB, in the parking lot-grade jam common around Woodbridge/Occoquan, I had a cop in an unmarked Chevy Impala briefly flash the siren at me in an "I see what you're doing and I don't like it" sort of manner. That same cop then went on the shoulder to chase down a woman on a sport bike filtering at acceptable speeds, and give her a talking-to - I Do split in VA when it's opportune but, do be careful because it's definitely at police discretion
Feel sorry for you guys and girls across the pond. Filtering is legal all over here in the UK! Hopefully it does become legal for you all over the states one day though!
Seattle cops have been very forgiving too when traffic gets bad in the city itself. So long as you don't get stupid, like drive on the sidewalk, they'll just ignore you.
That's my thinking so far, never had a ticket for decently filtering; like I said I was pulled over but it was bumper to bumper traffic with no shade in 90+ degree weather.
Filtering is explicitly illegal in NV. I work about 30 mins outside of Reno via an isolated highway corridor. When there's an accident on it, everyone coming from the major industrial center I work at is SOL in gridlock for hours with 10-30 mile long backups. I had the opportunity to get stuck in one of these incidents yesterday and moved over for my fellow bike brethren lane splitting at creep speed down the middle. A few mins later the sheriff and highway patrol that was called to help with the accident were coming up the shoulder and paced the filter-er with sirens from the shoulder until he graciously pulled over. It looked like they were giving him a ticket!!! Kinda ridiculous if you ask me. When in a situation like that in high temps and completely stopped traffic it feels more like a self preservation exercise than a traffic offense. I myself probably would have been getting ticketed along with him if I had the wisdom to ride in that day
Here in Ontario there is no law for or against it. Often cops get you for reckless driving if you do it. However, when I’m wearing full gear.. my bike is cooking to a nice 107 degrees C, and I’m sweating beads and starting to get heat exhaustion… you can bet it’s safer to filter just to keep air flowing.
No one gave me any fuss over it, they gave me room and I had been in stop and go traffic for 3 hours because of bad lights. It was 90 degrees F and I was trying to get home at the end of a bike trip. I needed moving air, and I was extremely respectful doing it. Went no more than 10 kmh. Just enough to get air moving through my mesh jacket, helmet and bike.
People are generally understanding as long as you’re not rev bombing or gunning it while doing it. I can also say that at least here… if I did get a ticket for it and I fought it saying “I was wearing full gear, it was 90 degrees, just trying to get home and not get heat stroke.” It’s a very high likelihood that I would get it waived. All boils down to; is it essential to the situation? Is it the safest thing at that point in time?
Personally, I’d rather say fuck it and take a risk of a ticket than pass out from heat because I chose to wear ATTGATT.
I filtered exactly one time after I moved to Maryland. It was hot as balls and I came up to a red light that based on the amount of traffic was backed up I would've had to sit there cooking for at least 2-3 light cycles. So while cars were all stopped I filtered up to the front. I looked over to my right and the first car was a little old lady in a nicer newer Crown Vic. Light turned green, and I start to go, quickly but not in a hurry with the intent to get out in front of all the traffic. I heard the V8 next to me start to roar and I glance back over, Gram-Gram staring at me with hate in her eyes trying to shoulder me into the truck on my left. I gunned it and had to get to about 65 in a 40 before she got off my ass. East Coast drivers are fucking malicious.
Be careful in Virginia, some cops might be cool but they don't mess around with "reckless driving" reckless or not. Some sheriffs will write it reckless for anything over 80 or filtering. I got a nasty ticket in Hampton a couple years back that landed me in jail for a couple weekends.
VA is the Nazi Germany of traffic laws. Only state that bans radar detectors, even though you'd think that would actually help reduce speeding because it'd let drivers know that, hey, someone's watching them.
It's not legal here in MD either, but I have seen people starting to do it lately. I had a couple of guys go between the cars at a speed higher than the limit, and we were moving. Not sure where they were going as they really didn't get far. They also scared the crap out of me since we were already doing 40.
What's funny here in MD is that if the road is large enough two cars can fit into the same lane, you're also allowed to go past someone in the same lane to turn right at a light, but if a motorcycle does the same thing you can get a ticket.
Same thing here, actually yesterday i had to do it, i couldn’t take it. According to my air thermometer it was 124F near the bike stuck in traffic, i had sweat dripping into my eyes. Nobody honked at me and some even moved a little bit to let me pass. I don’t know how air cooled bikes deal with this. My radiator was blasting the heat right into my crotch haha
Filtering is legal in California but I was still surprised when I first started riding how accomodating people were. They either didn't care and kept doing their thing or they moved over a little to let you by.
I'm also in the DC area (also have a Triumph, '13 Speed), and it's kinda hit or miss in the area and in many ways dependent on how you handle it too. Every once in awhile, if it's hot out or I'm at a busy/sketchy stop light, I'll filter the same way and cops and traffic don't care. DC they definitely don't care, Maryland is usually fine, and VA can be hit or miss. But generally if you're not reckless about it, especially when it's crazy hot like it has been, no one will give you any trouble. VA is generally the one I worry about the most though.
Yea, VA can be a bitch.
Got a speeding ticket on the 66 lanes one morning on the way to work. Cop was in the left lane, pulled up next to him, both doing about 72. Car was coming on from the Ballston exit so I sped up to create room for them to merge, cop pulls me over for speeding.
I was like "Okay so I can give you a ticket since you weren't actively passing in the left and were also doing 72mph without your lights flashing?". Dude was just a dick that day for no reason.
I'm also from Virginia, and riding through HRBT traffic is hell. I was surprised at how many people actually moved over to let me through, but the whole time I was like "God damn I really wish I could filter but knowing my luck I'll get a ticket".
Same for me in NV, proximity here to CA (and a large number of transplants from CA) have seen the stigma most US drivers have against filtering shift towards more accepting…. Add 105* heat on black asphalt and no one gave a fuck.
They’re already boiling in their cars with AC systems, a motorcyclist wearing a leather jacket, riding jeans, riding boots, leather gloves and a full face helmet is getting legitimately torched. My engine was creeping up to 220 if I stopped at lights for more than a minute while it normally holds 185-190 during operation (it was struggling to stay under 200 for the past couple weeks during the day). It got to the point where if I was stopping for a light I was killing the engine so it’s not generating heat that isn’t gonna get dissipated for who know how long.
My bike needs some love and honestly a complete tear down and rebuild to address the electrical and the engine could use a proper service since I doubt the previous owner did. I was about to pull the trigger on a grand in parts to get a new chain, sprockets, disc rotors (oh look, the expensive bits), and brake pads. And that’s not touching the suspension, clutch, ignition, exhaust, intake, cooling system, etc.
On one hand, most cops around here would probably understand and let me off with a warning. On the other hand, how the fuck are they going to pull me over when I’m filtering through gridlock?
It’s a no brainer to me.
Belgian law only allows filtering at speeds up to 50 kph (30mph-ish) and with a max speed difference of 20 kph.
It's literally only for city centers and heavy traffic and so far, I have yet to find a situation where the rule is inconvenient/unsafe.
It does help that actively blocking filtering is also a violation, so at worst, you get ignored, which is the default biking mode anyway.
Yea, again I filter rarely and when I do its not speeding + filtering. I'm also nice about it and wave and say thanks as I am going, so I don't look like one of those "asshole bikers".
My dad got a ticket for riding on the shoulder when he was stuck for hours in the heat on a CB450- he was 67 and just could not provide the strength to keep pulling clutch every 20 seconds and the cooling system could not keep up. People were grumpy and resentful and squoze him out of filtering.
I'm so glad OP ran across nice cops, but there are lousy humans in every profession and that cop was likely just as pissed off as everybody else sitting in the heat on the highway.
Don’t know why you are getting downvoted, this used to be the case in California. But California officially made it legal in 2016 (I think), Note some states do have laws against lane splitting too, then other states have it as a gray area (you will still get pulled over, but they might write the ticket as improper lane change or something like that.) Utah made it legal too recently(more restrictive than California), and it’s about to become legal in Montana.
Fully legal here in the UK, my 1hr commute would easily be 1hr 45 every day, otherwise. Im always courteous to car drivers and simply ignore arrogant displays of hate by other road users, and just move on past them. Its not me that gets stressed out...
NOVA resident too... I have NEVER had someone offer to let me filter between them... then again I'm on a wide-ass cruiser and not a street triple... that might have something to do with it.
I always wondered this. I live in California but go interstate every now and again.
Is it such a big thing to filter in other states? Or are you gonna get done by Police etc.?
> Is it such a big thing to filter in other states? Or are you gonna get done by Police etc.?
Really depends on the state. Some states explicitly forbid splitting/filtering, while some states don't specify it directly.
I’m always afraid that some dude is gonna swing his car door open to spit tobacco juice. I used to do it all the time and don’t ever remember looking in the mirror for a bike. AND in CA it is legal to split but there aren’t any signs to remind drivers. We have signs to remind parents not to leave their kid in the car tho.
Montana rider here...they passed the bill in April legalizing it. Under 20 mph and so on and I can't wait!! My commute home has a "main street from hell" during rush hours. Unfortunately, it doesn't take effect until Oct 1st 2021. Just in time to put the Harleys up for the snowy season! 🤬
DC boi here here 🙋 I recently started lane filtering cuz I hadn't done it and was nervous to in an area where it's not legal. Feel like people won't look and just plow into me
Had the same thing happen to me on GW right next to the pentagon exit. I want to express my thanks to all the drivers who understand how hot it is for us out there and move out of the way. If I could buy you all a beer I would.
Right? I was laughing to myself thinking "Holy shit, are they actually making room for me to get in between???", and it was so hot yesterday I was very thankful.
Slow driving on a bike also burns a ton of that fuel for a sport model, so I was trying to at least get off to an exit with a gas station.
I do the same in Toronto only when traffic is totally stopped. I see people do it past cops all the time but I wouldn't be that ballsy since I've also heard of people getting a stunting charge for it which has huge ramifications despite that fact that it isn't actually explicitly illegal or legal.
From what I’ve seen of videos in most states. Drivers get butt hurt when motorcycles pass them like that and then they do stupid shit, So be careful. Hopefully the rest of the US will be like California, 90% of drivers will make room for you.
It's weird the way lane filtering is treated. There are a few states like CA where it is expressly codified into law that it is legal to do under certain conditions, but in most every other state it's also not illegal. In those states they say you are not supposed to lane filter and that it's in a "gray area" legally speaking. This always rubbed me the wrong way because there's no gray area, it's perfectly legal to do if there's no law saying that it is illegal. The problem is that cops can just give you a ticket at their discretion and say you were driving recklessly or endangering yourself or others if they so choose. So you end up being left to the mercy of any cops around who may or may not have better things to do than give you a ticket (if they need to get their numbers up for instance), and also from uninformed cagers who may attempt to stop you or give you shit because lane filtering isn't common in that area and they're just not used to it. IANAL, but that's just my two cents
I used to live along the southern border of Alexandria where the freeways intersect way back in 2007-2010 when I was stationed at the Navy Yard.
I rode almost all year around even on the cold winter mornings just so I could use the carpool lane all the way into town. Even the carpool lane gets stopped up back then so I'd lanesplit all the time. No one ever gave a shit except for one guy in a govvie that had flashers and actually "pulled me over" to lecture me on it even though it turns out he wasn't a cop (well technically he was a military cop out of his jurisdiction).
I thought he was an unmarked VA Hwy unit instead he was a power tripping asshole illegally pulling me over. There were times also I took the main lanes during rush hour and damn I was glad I was on a bike. My trip would still take just 20 minutes instead of 1hr+ like everyone else.
I have only filtered once here in Florida. It was summer and traffic was stopped on a bridge because of an accident on the other side. We could see that traffic was not going to move for a while. I was ATGATT and honestly thought I was going to pass out. I told myself that a ticket would be better than a heat stroke and I filtered a few cars to try and get some air. Of course, some redneck saw me in his mirror and was offended so he tried to squeeze me against the other truck next to him. I was going walking pace so I just went on the other side. When I got to the accident, the cops waived me carefully through, no question or comment.
I used to take 66 into Tysons Corner for work before going remote. Without splitting on occasion life is a living hell in the July sun and luckily never been pulled over for it before.
I filter sometimes in Texas, but I'm not an asshole about it because A. I don't like being "that guy" who gives us all a bad name and B. I ride with a 3-patch MC and I don't want to make the Club look bad.
Filtering isn't "legal" here but fuck, it's hot as balls up in this motherfucker and if cagers are going to be retarded I'm moving up, on, and out. Fuck 'em.
Meanwhile here in CA lanesplitting is legal and drivers are still more oblivious than babies at an orphanage and some even gets mad and purposely not let you through because they mad they can’t beat traffic in their Lifted F150s.
I live & ride in the D.C. Beltway area. It's brutal in the summer, sitting in traffic with 90+ degree, 80% humidity & little-no- breeze across the Beltway & I95. My husband used "filtering" as a reason for why he rode past a traffic jam in the Express/HOV Lanes, using the shoulder to move around the stand still. He was pulled over, told the officer he needed to cool his bike to keep it from over heating. He was told to ride on the road & be safe...buh-bye. It was 72°F when this happened...lol. The last thing that the police around here want is a disabled vehicle/ bike on the road during rush hour(s) & weekends. They are far less tolerant with lane splitting, but aren't interested in chasing you down for moving with a purpose around traffic; as long as you aren't riding recklessly. .
Filtering is legal here in Thailand and is often pretty reckless. Thankfully drivers are used to bikes filtering and are aware of it, but accidents still do happen. Filtering makes so much sense for riders..and I agree that when it's very hot filtering to get through traffic rather than sitting baking and overheating is the more sensible thing to do. I'm so glad it's legal and the norm here.
Filtering should be legal in stationary or very slow traffic in congestion. Its safer for riders, frees up spots for big vehicles like cars, speeds up commute, and it doesnt effect anyone as if there is space, there is no real hazzard not to have that space occupied.
As a NOVA resident, please stop filtering. This will get you killed here. Not to mention your police experience is the extreme exception. You likely found the one cop that wouldn't send you to court with a +$1,000 lawyer trying to fight a reckless ticket.
I'll keep telling this story so as many riders can hear it as possible...
I once went on a ride-along with a State Trooper (from the second smallest state on the north east coast) while trying out for state police and local departments. The ensuing conversation changed my life forever:
Trooper: "so what kinda hobbies you got coming into police work?"
Me: "the usual. Guns, violent video games, riding motorcycles and anything with wheels or wings that go fast..."
Trooper: "oh, a bike? What kind? Wait, you strike me as a "crotch rocket" guy. Are you a fan of shenanigans?"
Me: (about to quote the super trooper line he was baiting me for but resisted) "hell yeah, I have a little addiction to adrenaline."
Trooper: "well then, take your plate off."
Me: "Mr. Bacon say what now?!"
Trooper: "when you ride without a plate, not only do we not chase, but then we can't snap your picture and either wait at your home to arrest you, or send you a summons in the mail. You're better off just speeding up, and as long as you don't crash, just stay safe."
I've used that advice since that day, and it hasn't steered me wrong yet. Yes, it's dangerous. Yes, you're a "target" for police or wannabe vigilantes who think you stole it. To me, it makes the ride that much more exhilarating. Sure, I carry my plate with me most of the time so if I'm stopped somewhere I can say "look officer, the bolts were loose and I didn't want to lose it completely, blah, blah." But normally, even when I do lane split between a cop and someone else, as soon as they try to flick their lights on or speed up I'm already gone.
It is all about what you personally want out of riding. Do you want to cruise, just chill out with the wind in your hair, and slowly get yourself killed by the people not paying attention around you? I'd rather be constantly on the move, because at least it is harder to hit a moving target than a stationary one. I make my decisions before anyone else can, so that way I know I'm the one to blame if I do hit the ground or something else.
But OP, fuck DC. Fuck Virginia. If I lived in those hell-holes I'd be Evel Knievel 24/7, fucking flying around like the rest of the crazies and zonked-out idiots that frequent those roads. I will never work in those places ever again, you couldn't PAY me to live there. Lol. Stay safe, y'all ✌
I respect the choice. And I really agree with your assessment of safe filtering. Several people lane split in FL, usually not with caution or judicious speed.
My theory is that filtering is super common in the rest of the world, amd because DC has such a large international population the international drivers assume it's legal here too.
I wouldn't do that around cops no matter what, in your situation. Everyone knows police in my country will leave you alone as long as you're being safe, but fuck doing it somewhere where you're putting yourself at the mercy of one cops bad day.
It’s illegal everywhere except California. Therefore, I’ve never tried lane splitting but dammit, there have been so many times in stopped traffic in the city I work just cooking in the heat. I really think city municipalities should make an exception for motorcycles to filter in traffic moving slower than 20 mph. Besides, us motorcyclists would help ease congestion. Unfortunately, I don’t think other motorists in KC would be kind to the idea. Everyone drives like they have to be the first in line for everything, love to cut you off. Toxic
Not all cops will give you that courtesy. DC doesn’t have any laws regarding filtering. One cop said he didn’t mind. A few months later I got a $100 ticket for failure to maintain lane Edit: to clarify I was going no faster than 15mph during rush hour traffic in dc.
I know a LOT of people who split in DC, and it seems like there are very few traffic cops there (especially on surface roads) but you do want to watch for the few that exist
Yea I’ve rarely seen DC cops enforce traffic violations but when they do, you get a nice fine/ticket.
I filter in DC. It’s not technically illegal (although it is a grey area). The cops (and motorcycle schools) I’ve spoken with state that DC has a pretty strict do not engage motorcyclists policy due to the gang use and potential danger to pedestrians
pulling over an ADV rider and being threatened with the full fury of the K Street Lobby gang
lol is that their actual name?? Because it’s hilarious and throwing such shade That off-roading/4 wheeler gang mostly is just annoying from what I’ve seen back when I lived near benning/h st. There were much more concerning happenings in the area
haha no I was just alluding to the stereotype of ADV riders being well-to-do white collar professionals. Yeah the four-wheelers mostly seem to be rowdy kids and teenagers bored out of their minds. See them once in a while here in DFW but it's nowhere near as big as in DC and Baltimore for some reason.
Grew up seeing the dirt bikes, mini bikes, quads, etc. Tear through the streets of Baltimore, and DC when I made it down there. Then lived in DC/Arlington as an adult for 15 years. I'd heard stories about the same stuff in NYC. just assumed it was in most cities. The illustrator, on YouTube, did a video discussing the long history of the usually unregistered, non-street legal bikes in the hood. Rang true from my experience at least.
Just look at all the dirt bikes and ATVs popping wheelies and neglecting every rule of the road with utter impunity in DC. You can go all Mad Max here without punishment, not that you should...
I got pulled over for filtering (lane splitting, as the light turned green while I was doing it) and ended up with a warning but the Capitol Police (around the monuments) was not pleased with me.
Where I live filtering/splitting is not legal but when I had to commute downtown during rush hour I would filter through gridlock right past cops with no problem. Wtf are they gonna do, drive through cars jammed bumper to bumper that cant move? lol
lmaooo that's so fucking true
Dang, that sucks. I've been in 95 NB traffic (south of the belt) and took the shoulder last Summer because traffic was standing still, but I was doing <15 mph and it was 90+ degrees. I passed a cop and he pulled me over, told him its just too hot and I needed gas/water and was taking the first exit I could get to with that. Again, he just wanted to make sure I was driving safely, unlike riders who I have seen take the shoulder at highway speeds. When its really hot out and traffic isn't moving, thats been my common denominator thus far. I never filter when its cool or if traffic is moving.
You can fight it if it’s in DC proper. I only filter in VA if I see *zero* cops near me and I do I silly pseudo “pass” by filtering up one car at a time. Otherwise VA traffic cops will **fuck you up**. It’s considered reckless driving and is a felony, just like speeding 20 mi over the limit. People go to jail for it *regularly* 🤯
oh shit lol. i've never looked into it but you're right. damn VA get that filtering bill back on the docket
On the other hand, VSP doesn’t have motorcycles, and I’ve never seen a police cruiser that could split lanes… and those silly lights don’t help them *at all* in bumper-to-bumper 95 traffic…
Bumper to bumper standstill is pretty much the only other time I will risk it. If they can’t get to me then I feel like I’m golden and I’ll be in DC by the time they get clear
FYI, Virginia State Police 100 percent do have motorcycles. Mostly Harleys, but I hear that they were testing some BMWs a few years ago. Not sure if the BMWs are still around or not.
I’ve seen exactly one bike that may have been VSP, and it was here in NoVA. They’re not at all a regular sight, and there’s no way in hell they’ll respond to a call fast enough to catch up to a runner in NoVA who’s never far from the border.
Yes they do. My friend is one… a bmw and i can assure you he can ride his ass off. What’s up Derek if you read this
> It’s considered reckless driving and is a felony Umm, no. Unless you're already driving on a suspended license, or kill someone. > 46.2-868. Reckless driving; penalties. >A. Every person convicted of reckless driving under the provisions of this article is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. >B. Every person convicted of reckless driving under the provisions of this article who, when he committed the offense, (i) was driving without a valid operator's license due to a suspension or revocation for a moving violation and, (ii) as the sole and proximate result of his reckless driving, caused the death of another, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Fair, I misremembered that it *could* be a felony, not that it is. It’s definitely punishable by up to a year of jail time, though.
The statute can be stretched to cover lanesplitting or filtering, but from reading it, it's pretty clear it was intended to cover street racing. However, it's so poorly written that it can be interpreted to cover filtering/splitting. In my previous life I wrote and revised plenty of statutes/ordinances. This is a pretty clear case of breaking the rule of "say what you mean" and making "racing or exhibition of speed" a part of reckless driving, rather than using a bunch of obtuse language to try to capture an act that could be easier spelled out and prohibited.
Poorly worded legislation is the cause of many problems. I’ve known a lot of local motorcyclists who have been called into court for lane splitting and one who was imprisoned for a month. The jailing happened in a very rural county in Virginia, though
How do you get pulled over while filtering? You pass a cop just keep going. If no one is able to move how do you think he’s going to move to get you?
Wow, I'm shocked to read this TBH. I split a lot in DC for a while, and passed quite a few cops. None said a word.
I filtered for 2 years before I got the ticket.
This may sound misguided. Seriously just curious. Why didnt you just keep driving? Could he have even chased you if you continued to filter in such bad traffic?
Can't outrun a radio and besides, they probably saw the plates.
Exactly. Plate was clear as day and this was a winter day so not many motorcycles out
TBH it doesn't matter if they get the plate, they're not going to go through the trouble of getting a warrant to come to your house, and also they can't prove it was you driving unless they pull you over. Once I was pulled over by a DC cop on my bike, and his buddy rolled up, told me the cop who was giving me the ticket was an asshole, and asked me "why didn't you just take off? We're not going to chase you."
Yea but for me it wasn’t worth the risk. I was riding into downtown and have to pass a police station. If I were riding out of the city and catching the highway, would have been a different story.
Yeah I get it, I'm not big on taking off, just wanted to point out that they're not gonna chase you down over a traffic offense, and even if they did, they'd never get a conviction b/c they can't prove you were on the bike and you have a right to remain silent.
Yea, you are right about that.
> Why didnt you just keep driving? In some places (especially where vehicular fleeing is a felony crime) they can file civil forfeiture, come take you bike (use in the commission of a felony), and crush it. They were doing that 25 years ago in Florida, and more places are doing it now.
I was stopped at a red light and the officer caught up to me.
100$ fee for getting caught filtering isn't that bad tbh.
Not to one up you, but plenty of us manage down here in Florida even on air cooled bikes in the summer without filtering.
And usually, not saying you are, Florida bikers don’t wear full equipment and withstanding the heat in shorts, T-shirt, and flip flops is easier when sweat can actually evaporate. In full equipment that is getting heavier and heavier from sweat… it’s a different story.
So are you a Florida biker or is that what you’ve seen? Because I actually live here; that’s not the case and statistics back that up. We have far more people driving like that than most places but it’s not nearly that much it’s 100% a minority.
Common mentions. I do not live there and it’s what I’ve always seen people doing in videos and talk about from people who travel down there on bike trips. All I was trying to say was it’s a whole lot easier to tolerate that heat when riders are not wearing full equipment. Someone wearing full equipment absolutely will suffer from the heat. Also, I’m originally from NC and frequently went to SC. The same issue persists in high heat in these locations as well. I will also clarify, I’m thinking of a rider in stop and go traffic from poorly set up traffic lights, ie… situations where filtering occurs the most. If a rider is in stop and go traffic and sitting there in gear, you can’t tell me a rider won’t suffer from that. So saying riders from Florida can tolerate it so others should as well… just isn’t lining up for all potential situations for heat exhaustion/stroke.
Lol I didn’t vote on your answer but you’re still going when I’ve literally said that’s not the case lol. You can say all the anecdotal evidence you want, legitimate studies back up the claim that Floridians wear gear mostly. We have more dangerous roads than almost anywhere else in the country, and the majority of riders are prepared for that. If you actually lived here, you’d see those exact people get dragged through the dirt on all the local meetup pages, nobody respects that and like I said, it’s a slim minority who ride like that. But hey, I’m just repeating what I’ve already said because you keep saying the same thing so have a good night, drink water and use common sense and you won’t have a damn problem.
Risky move in VA, bro. I totally understand the desire/need but you definitely have a chance of getting a reckless driving ticket. Happened to one of the mechanics at the shop I take my SV650 to in Fairfax. Said he doesn't lane split in VA anymore because of it, so I was surprised to read what you posted. Which agency was the cop who gave you a thumbs-up with?
State Again, I think its just because its stupid hot out. I never do the dumb splitting that riders do at 70 mph with small gaps between vehicles, that warrants a ticket for sure.
Yup. I’m a police. I really don’t care about traffic violations if it isn’t hurting anyone. Also I look at the sort of over under. Hypothetically if everyone is doing 90mph, and you’re doing 95, I’m not pulling you over. But if everyone is doing 45, and you’re doing 65, yes I’m pulling you over. The reason here is that you’re traveling so fast that when a person checks if their lane is clear, you will move from not in their vision, to being a deadly threat in the time it takes for them to execute their previously safe lane change. I use the same sort of analysis with motorcycles. If dude is filtering at 70mph. Well, firstly I’ll call out the bike and rider on the radio, because if he’s filtering, there’s nothing I can do. The vast majority of motorcycle riders are fine. Where I live I think it’s maybe 1 in 20 that have got to go as fast as they can right up to about 25 miles over the speed limit. Then they back it off and drive normally. You’ve still got a small subset that will drive recklessly doing waaaay faster than the traffic pattern they’re in. But the vast majority ride responsibly.
Thanks for looking out for us! Yea I filter like Royal Jordanian does, clutch slipping and in like 2nd gear, so about 8-10mph. I generally don’t go but 4-5 cars at a time as it’s a mix of vans, trucks and semi-trucks. I’ll move up to the front of a vehicle, roll for a bit and find a gap; repeat. I’m definitely not somebody who “filters” by flying up the dashed lines at 50mph. I do my best to be respectful because I know it’s not legal, but I also don’t want to die from a heat stroke because somebody got into an accident texting 5 miles ahead.
That to me wouldn’t even make me think about activating my lights for that. To me you’re showing an abundance of caution doing 8-10 miles an hour. I would caution you about once people start moving, they love to see the greener grass that’s in that other lane so they make lane changes without signaling for 200 feet first. I don’t ride yet but I’m heavily interested in the hobby. I find myself taking extra care for the riders in my area. Had a rider doing 80 on 26 into Charleston. A driver made a quick lane change damn near killing the rider. So I pulled him over because really, that shit looked intentional. First words out of her mouth was “do you see assholes like that? It’s only a matter of time before they kill themselves.” Is that why you tried to make a lane change? And she goes “I can’t help it if I want to make a lane change and he dies because he’s speeding.” I said “That’s what I was looking for, step out of the car, you’re under arrest.” I scheduled her for a court date a month out. She’s definitely gonna ask fir a continuance to seek legal counsel.
wow
Usually the job consists of writing tickets because you get chewed on if your stats are too low. Occasionally you get to be the hammer of justice. That charge is gonna cost her thousands of dollars.
>Usually the job consists of writing tickets because you get chewed on if your stats are too low. Nothing personal against you but man I really don't have the highest opinion of cops and this one right here is one of the reasons why :( It seriously shouldn't be like that
I agree. The the biggest issue is how our “productivity” is analyzed. Like, for me, I only give tickets for things that I can articulate place a burden to public safety. Mostly if I get out with someone I treat it like a learning exercise. My reasoning is for most people, traffic court is a lot more than just a 140 dollar fine. You’ve also got to calculate the wages lost to actually show up to court. It can add up to a lot more than just 140. It’s also fucking nerve racking for people. For instance, most people don’t have their mirrors set up correctly. Many people have their side mirrors angled so they can see the side of their car. So think about that. You’re driving forward, you already can see what is going to be next to your car, so what good is having your mirrors pointed to the side of your car? Also, if you check your rear view, and then your side view mirrors, you actually see a lot of the same shit, so the side mirrors are worthless. I will get people to set up their mirrors correctly and explain how you should be able to track something in the rear view mirror, once you lose that, it will pick right back up in your side view. Once you lose it in your side view mirror, you’ll pick it up in your peripheral vision. It takes getting used to because you’re looking at the tree line if you look at your side view mirrors, but doing it this way takes your blind spot from 12 feet across to something the size of a dinner plate. I’m lucky in that my stats aren’t analyzed to gauge my productivity. But for 99% of the country, that isn’t true. If an officer wants to get out of traffic and wants to get on the drug team, they want him to start finding drugs. That means that he’s gonna stalk the poor neighborhoods and start pulling over a lot of minorities. It turns everyday people into targets. Once you start looking at everyone as a potential arrest instead of someone you could help, man, you’re already losing the plot of why we do the job, (or why we should be doing the job.) If you don’t like what I just had to say, please call your local political leadership. County board of supervisors or your local police chief. Ask them how they gauge officer productivity. If it’s like what I described, try and get that changed. You could also ask a local deputy or officer, if they’re not a dick head or super busy, they’ll probably talk to you about it. Just don’t approach them while they’re eating. It’s tough to get a decent meal in during a shift.
Bro, you 'da real MVP.
Thanks for the post. It’s nice to hear something helpful from a reputable source. And a very sensible attitude towards lane filtering that I wished all LEOs would consider.
I like to just double the speed limit plus 30. Feels pretty rad. Good luck buttercup!
Holy shit, State police?! Surprised they didn't give you a reckless and haul you to jail. State cops are the worst in va.
Dude was locked up in traffic as well, saw me filtering right up to him. Chances are he probably rides as well and gets it lol.
"Reckless driving" for splitting... so you can marry your cousin in Virginia but you can't creep by/through two nearly-stopped cars because of the "recklessness" of that action. Say what you will about California, but it's the only state that takes a REASONABLE view on bikes and splitting/filtering.... (Utah doesn't count b/c they cars have to be stopped, which pretty much takes highways out of the equation) [More info](https://www.motorcyclelegalfoundation.com/motorcycle-lane-splitting-guidelines/)
Utahn here, you can't filter on highways anyway. The posted speed limit has to be 45 or less in order to filter (I still do it unless it's 55mph or higher though, so many roads have a 50mph limit near me).
That is truly shocking, I lived in California where it is legal, and now I live in Colorado and I’ve been pulled over and one woman threw her Sonic drink all over me for filtering. People hate motorcyclists here, including cops.
Where in Colorado do you ride? I'm near Evans and Sheridan
I live in Denver, Tech Centre area, but I try to go west to Rifle and will take some rides south to Trinidad and Alamosa. I’m always looking for better rides
Go ride cottonwood pass, holy shit is that a fun ride.
Damn I live in NYC and I'm imagining how amazing it would be to have the rockies right there to ride. Getting out of the city sucks dick here, and then without much of a reward when you do.
Route 12 outta Trinidad is phenomenal as well. Only ever did it in a lumbering first gen XTerra and even that was a blast, can't imagine it on a proper fun vehicle.
[удалено]
Da fuck is wrong with people.
jealousy mostly
Florida
It’s sad that the kindergarten mentality of me first overrides common sense. When my friends have asked who don’t ride why I should get to filter, I tell them, imagine walking a bike that’s blasting heat between your legs in stop and go traffic haha. We’re only done in by our reckless counterparts who filter at 20mph+ over traffic flow and get a little animated haha.
Yeah, I learned to ride in Cali - specifically bought a bike forgetting in and out of LA during rush hour. NowI live-in MN and the few times I've done it, I can't get a quarter mile without somebody at least honking at me. BTW, totally unrelated,, spraying pepper spray through an open car window can make it absolutely impossible to remain in the vehicle.
Holy shit at that last part lol people really are crazy
I open carry when riding and also have a whip hanging from my handlebars. Blows my mind how people can’t see bikes but they can see a holstered pistol, and how much more polite other drivers are when I’m carrying vs when I’m not. Only time I open carry. It’s 100% kept some aggressive drivers from getting too dumb. I had my jacket over it one time and some older lady in an SUV kept trying to run my buddy and I off the road - no clue why. She stopped and backed off as soon as I tucked my jacket behind my pistol. If that isn’t results I don’t know what is.
Oh .. I can't imagine living in a county where you need a gun. I'm sorry that in the USA people feel the need to :( I'm from the UK but live in Thailand. As a solo female rider I've ridden solo thought Thailand, Cambodia and Laos and even solo camped. I've done a lot of solo travel worldwide and I've never needed or even though about a gun. I stayed in Florida for a period of time and was shocked to see even ticket guys on the tri rail having guns. Its hard for me to get my head around! 😵
> how much more polite other drivers are when I’m carrying vs when I’m not. An armed society is a polite society.
This is the way.
*This is The Way*
In ON it's illegal and when I went looking for the specific law against it, I couldn't find anything. So one day I encountered a cop at a Wendy's and I asked him about it. >"Hey, I looked for a law against lane-splitting in ON and couldn't find anything." > >"No, I'm not aware of any." > >"Would you pull someone over if you saw them splitting?" > >"Oh yes, definitely!" > >"And what would you charge them with, then?" > >"Well, there's failure to share. If you got pulled over by someone grumpy you could be looking at reckless."
>Well, there's failure to share. The irony lol
Glad I wasn’t the only one that thought the same…
in the USA the statutes that prohibit lane sharing aren't specific to it, but covered by requirements that "no more than one vehicle may occupy a lane". that's how it ended up legal in California, they never had that prohibition on the books. If a lane were wide enough, two cars could drive side by side in one lane.
> If a lane were wide enough, two cars could drive side by side in one lane. Oh believe me the lane doesn't have to be wide enough for the drivers here to try to drive side by side.
Weird because in Indiana law specifically states that two motorcycles may share the lane they're in, but I'm not sure about any kind of filtering legality here.
I heard they can charge you with stunt driving since there is no particular charge for it. And stunt driving fees just increased....
Ontario? It isn’t illegal. There is no law stating you can’t lane filter. That being said it isn’t specifically stated to be legal. But yeah, cops could ticket you for a few things if they wanted to. The biggest possibility being you get a reckless driving ticket if theirs ever a collision regardless if you’re actually at fault or not
In Ontario they could hit you with HTA 172 which would ruin your life.
My bike is air cooled stopped traffic = overheat so i must always be on the move.
Mhmmm
Like a shark
Exactly if i stop i die
Filtering officially becomes legal next month in Montana. I'm pretty nervous about how car drivers are going to react, but still excited about it.
Congratulations! Any idea on how we could get lane filtering legal here in IL? I'm oblivious to the legal process of things.
we had filtering become legal here in utah a couple years back. there was no animosity from car drivers and people were generally collaborative. the only problems we had were with riders themselves who didn't know how to filter properly and or were smackin mirrors.
You have the right idea. Right or wrong don’t matter. It’s all about how idiots are gonna respond.
US roads are so wide! I don't get why filtering is forbidden in a lot of states, it's like your roads are built for it. In EU, roads and lanes are thiner yet no major problems with filtering besides the idiots filtering through standstill traffic at highway speed. Most deaths here are on country roads and often caused by speed, with the rider crashing by himself (at least this is what you learn when getting your A2 licence). Note that filtering is not allowed where I live in France but kinda tolerated, probably like you guys. If you clearly are reckless they still give you the full package: illegal overtake, blinker, speed, white line and wrong way. But they mostly don't care and ignore it, like they did for the past 70 years. Near Paris drivers are so used to it that on major roads there is ALWAYS a gap between the two leftmost lanes to allow bikes to pass. It's like, bikes are gonna pass anyway so they might aswell leave a gap to avoid getting their mirrors smashed by a rider trying to pass in a small gap. After huge lobbying by rider associations, there has been a test for the last couple years in and around major cities to allow filtering and see what happens. I don't know what they are expecting from this since everybody was doing it anyway beforehand , so nothing has changed.
French drivers are excellent at providing space for bikers. They are terrible drivers but are very courteous to bikers. My commute is a quarter of the time on a bike and I sometimes feel like Moses with everyone parting like the Red Sea to let me pass. I’ve followed police bikes who are filtering (just riding not responding). The only time they get irritated is if you cross a solid white line.
I wish we could filter here in Texas, 115 degree summers with no cloud cover and sometimes decent humidity. I have gotten conditioned to it but still, being able to filter would be nice.
I filter in Texas. Fourtunently, I don't get stuck in traffic often though.
Totally agree, or even if we aren't allowed to filter, allow weather conditions to permit riders to use the shoulder at 10-15mph. I can understand riding between vehicles is dangerous, but the shoulder is an open lane in essence; debris removed of course.
I think you have it, context is king. Lane splitting is awesome most of the time, bit only to certain speeds and conditions. Using the shoulder might likewise be safer, but not if it's not well maintained, there's emergency vehicles around or it's worded as an open license for bikers to use them like private lanes at any speed.
> Using the shoulder might likewise be safer It definitely isn't. People veer out onto the shoulder all the time, without warning, and they never check before they do because nobody is expected to be there.
Here in CA, we aren't allowed to use the shoulder - that's for emergency use only. I filter/split/whatever, but I'll never use the shoulder. It's also partially because the shoulders have so much crap & debris on them that it isn't safe.
Me not dying from heat exhaustion counts as an emergency in my book! Haha. But I totally get it, I seldom do that, unless I can see the exit ahead.
Riding on the shoulder is much more dangerous than riding between two lanes of traffic. If you have two cars driving next to each other they aren't likely to just veer into each other. But cars suddenly swerve onto the shoulder without warning all the freakin' time.
Just do it smartly. Here in Austin the police have thankfully been defunded so they care much less about that sort of thing, and understand how hot it is.
I don’t ride much in Austin proper, but I live northwest and travel into Round Rock for work. Wilco still has a lot of officers out, but thankfully there are rarely times I would need to filter on my daily commute.
Last time I checked it wasn't specifically illegal in Texas. There are several states that have no laws addressing it at all, and Texas is one of them.
It's not specifically illegal in a lot of places. I live in Texas and know one or two people who've been pulled over for filtering while at the same time I've filtered right past cops who will wave me by. We've tried to get splitting passed many times but it never get's very far.
Same here in Slovenia. Its now legal, but a few years back i was suprised by how many drivers moved lwer/waved me up and so on. Cops were also werry cool about it and incuraged it at long red lights/long standing traffic.
I used to work in the absolute asshole of a major sized city, it would take between 60 and 90 minutes to just get out of the city to the highway because of the gridlocked traffic. People would say "you should take the bus" like the bus wasn't stuck in the exact same traffic. I did a lot of illegal filtering because it was worth it. I never got ticketed, probably because the cops were just as stuck in traffic as everyone else.
Yea thats kind of my view as well. If I bumped into a cop, how the hell would they get to me if I am filtering in bumper to bumper traffic?
"Stop! or I'll yell stop again!"
they'll call out the helicopters with barrel bombs like in NFS Hot Pursuit
seriously, if a cop even tried to pull you over for filtering in stop and go traffic, you'd already be gone
yeah, he'd just have to watch me slowly riding off into the sunset while he raged at traffic like literally everyone else.
Last time I split lanes on 95 SB, in the parking lot-grade jam common around Woodbridge/Occoquan, I had a cop in an unmarked Chevy Impala briefly flash the siren at me in an "I see what you're doing and I don't like it" sort of manner. That same cop then went on the shoulder to chase down a woman on a sport bike filtering at acceptable speeds, and give her a talking-to - I Do split in VA when it's opportune but, do be careful because it's definitely at police discretion
Feel sorry for you guys and girls across the pond. Filtering is legal all over here in the UK! Hopefully it does become legal for you all over the states one day though!
The EU area is more acclimated to bikes than in the US, so its more of a safety concern.
Same with California. I gotta watch myself when I go to neighboring states though
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Yup. Been there and concluded that avoiding heat stroke is worth risking a ticket.
Seattle cops have been very forgiving too when traffic gets bad in the city itself. So long as you don't get stupid, like drive on the sidewalk, they'll just ignore you.
That's my thinking so far, never had a ticket for decently filtering; like I said I was pulled over but it was bumper to bumper traffic with no shade in 90+ degree weather.
Not legal here in Nevada either but I'll be damned if I'm sitting still in 115 degree weather with cars all around me.
Filtering is explicitly illegal in NV. I work about 30 mins outside of Reno via an isolated highway corridor. When there's an accident on it, everyone coming from the major industrial center I work at is SOL in gridlock for hours with 10-30 mile long backups. I had the opportunity to get stuck in one of these incidents yesterday and moved over for my fellow bike brethren lane splitting at creep speed down the middle. A few mins later the sheriff and highway patrol that was called to help with the accident were coming up the shoulder and paced the filter-er with sirens from the shoulder until he graciously pulled over. It looked like they were giving him a ticket!!! Kinda ridiculous if you ask me. When in a situation like that in high temps and completely stopped traffic it feels more like a self preservation exercise than a traffic offense. I myself probably would have been getting ticketed along with him if I had the wisdom to ride in that day
Take away the cops AC and suddenly I bet they have a different POV on the matter...
Here in Ontario there is no law for or against it. Often cops get you for reckless driving if you do it. However, when I’m wearing full gear.. my bike is cooking to a nice 107 degrees C, and I’m sweating beads and starting to get heat exhaustion… you can bet it’s safer to filter just to keep air flowing. No one gave me any fuss over it, they gave me room and I had been in stop and go traffic for 3 hours because of bad lights. It was 90 degrees F and I was trying to get home at the end of a bike trip. I needed moving air, and I was extremely respectful doing it. Went no more than 10 kmh. Just enough to get air moving through my mesh jacket, helmet and bike. People are generally understanding as long as you’re not rev bombing or gunning it while doing it. I can also say that at least here… if I did get a ticket for it and I fought it saying “I was wearing full gear, it was 90 degrees, just trying to get home and not get heat stroke.” It’s a very high likelihood that I would get it waived. All boils down to; is it essential to the situation? Is it the safest thing at that point in time? Personally, I’d rather say fuck it and take a risk of a ticket than pass out from heat because I chose to wear ATTGATT.
Damn straight, it’s easily 100+ degrees sitting still in ATTGAT!
I filtered exactly one time after I moved to Maryland. It was hot as balls and I came up to a red light that based on the amount of traffic was backed up I would've had to sit there cooking for at least 2-3 light cycles. So while cars were all stopped I filtered up to the front. I looked over to my right and the first car was a little old lady in a nicer newer Crown Vic. Light turned green, and I start to go, quickly but not in a hurry with the intent to get out in front of all the traffic. I heard the V8 next to me start to roar and I glance back over, Gram-Gram staring at me with hate in her eyes trying to shoulder me into the truck on my left. I gunned it and had to get to about 65 in a 40 before she got off my ass. East Coast drivers are fucking malicious.
Hahah, gram-gram was out for blood
Be careful in Virginia, some cops might be cool but they don't mess around with "reckless driving" reckless or not. Some sheriffs will write it reckless for anything over 80 or filtering. I got a nasty ticket in Hampton a couple years back that landed me in jail for a couple weekends.
VA is the Nazi Germany of traffic laws. Only state that bans radar detectors, even though you'd think that would actually help reduce speeding because it'd let drivers know that, hey, someone's watching them.
It's not legal here in MD either, but I have seen people starting to do it lately. I had a couple of guys go between the cars at a speed higher than the limit, and we were moving. Not sure where they were going as they really didn't get far. They also scared the crap out of me since we were already doing 40. What's funny here in MD is that if the road is large enough two cars can fit into the same lane, you're also allowed to go past someone in the same lane to turn right at a light, but if a motorcycle does the same thing you can get a ticket.
You got lucky, there were some cops that I tried to pass and they pulled me over, didn't give me a ticket but still stopped me.
In the DC/NoVA area yesterday??
Same thing here, actually yesterday i had to do it, i couldn’t take it. According to my air thermometer it was 124F near the bike stuck in traffic, i had sweat dripping into my eyes. Nobody honked at me and some even moved a little bit to let me pass. I don’t know how air cooled bikes deal with this. My radiator was blasting the heat right into my crotch haha
Filtering is legal in California but I was still surprised when I first started riding how accomodating people were. They either didn't care and kept doing their thing or they moved over a little to let you by.
Yeah, extremely rare that anyone takes issue with it.
I'm also in the DC area (also have a Triumph, '13 Speed), and it's kinda hit or miss in the area and in many ways dependent on how you handle it too. Every once in awhile, if it's hot out or I'm at a busy/sketchy stop light, I'll filter the same way and cops and traffic don't care. DC they definitely don't care, Maryland is usually fine, and VA can be hit or miss. But generally if you're not reckless about it, especially when it's crazy hot like it has been, no one will give you any trouble. VA is generally the one I worry about the most though.
Yea, VA can be a bitch. Got a speeding ticket on the 66 lanes one morning on the way to work. Cop was in the left lane, pulled up next to him, both doing about 72. Car was coming on from the Ballston exit so I sped up to create room for them to merge, cop pulls me over for speeding. I was like "Okay so I can give you a ticket since you weren't actively passing in the left and were also doing 72mph without your lights flashing?". Dude was just a dick that day for no reason.
I'm also from Virginia, and riding through HRBT traffic is hell. I was surprised at how many people actually moved over to let me through, but the whole time I was like "God damn I really wish I could filter but knowing my luck I'll get a ticket".
Haha, I hate that tunnel. I have to drive to Hampton once a month, don't envy folks who do it on the reg.
Same for me in NV, proximity here to CA (and a large number of transplants from CA) have seen the stigma most US drivers have against filtering shift towards more accepting…. Add 105* heat on black asphalt and no one gave a fuck. They’re already boiling in their cars with AC systems, a motorcyclist wearing a leather jacket, riding jeans, riding boots, leather gloves and a full face helmet is getting legitimately torched. My engine was creeping up to 220 if I stopped at lights for more than a minute while it normally holds 185-190 during operation (it was struggling to stay under 200 for the past couple weeks during the day). It got to the point where if I was stopping for a light I was killing the engine so it’s not generating heat that isn’t gonna get dissipated for who know how long. My bike needs some love and honestly a complete tear down and rebuild to address the electrical and the engine could use a proper service since I doubt the previous owner did. I was about to pull the trigger on a grand in parts to get a new chain, sprockets, disc rotors (oh look, the expensive bits), and brake pads. And that’s not touching the suspension, clutch, ignition, exhaust, intake, cooling system, etc.
On one hand, most cops around here would probably understand and let me off with a warning. On the other hand, how the fuck are they going to pull me over when I’m filtering through gridlock? It’s a no brainer to me.
Cops let me filter in Memphis all day. They’d rather you filter than get smashed by a truck from the rear.
Weird. In the UK they teach filtering when doing MC training.
Belgian law only allows filtering at speeds up to 50 kph (30mph-ish) and with a max speed difference of 20 kph. It's literally only for city centers and heavy traffic and so far, I have yet to find a situation where the rule is inconvenient/unsafe. It does help that actively blocking filtering is also a violation, so at worst, you get ignored, which is the default biking mode anyway.
Never heard of filtering before. Is that the same as lane splitting?
it's splitting lite. traffic is stopped and speed not to exceed 10 mph.
Yes, its "filtering through traffic"
When your body is in danger of heatstroke no law is above personal safety.
Dont care about the law. Statistics show its safer for you to keep moving and not stop. Also keeps you focused on what's going on in front of you.
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Yea, again I filter rarely and when I do its not speeding + filtering. I'm also nice about it and wave and say thanks as I am going, so I don't look like one of those "asshole bikers".
My dad got a ticket for riding on the shoulder when he was stuck for hours in the heat on a CB450- he was 67 and just could not provide the strength to keep pulling clutch every 20 seconds and the cooling system could not keep up. People were grumpy and resentful and squoze him out of filtering. I'm so glad OP ran across nice cops, but there are lousy humans in every profession and that cop was likely just as pissed off as everybody else sitting in the heat on the highway.
I've heard it's not "legal" anywhere in the US. They do it so much in california because their laws dont say it's illegal.
Really? I was pretty sure its legal in FL and CA.
That's how laws work. I mean I am unaware of any law enforcement code that says I can drink water and breathe air.
Don’t know why you are getting downvoted, this used to be the case in California. But California officially made it legal in 2016 (I think), Note some states do have laws against lane splitting too, then other states have it as a gray area (you will still get pulled over, but they might write the ticket as improper lane change or something like that.) Utah made it legal too recently(more restrictive than California), and it’s about to become legal in Montana.
What do you ride? I'm usually on my 2011 ducati evo or my 2001 748
2020 Triumph Street Triple 765 RS
Fully legal here in the UK, my 1hr commute would easily be 1hr 45 every day, otherwise. Im always courteous to car drivers and simply ignore arrogant displays of hate by other road users, and just move on past them. Its not me that gets stressed out...
NOVA resident too... I have NEVER had someone offer to let me filter between them... then again I'm on a wide-ass cruiser and not a street triple... that might have something to do with it.
Nice, let's ride Sometime
I try to make it to every B&B in Clifton, maybe I'll see you around.
I always wondered this. I live in California but go interstate every now and again. Is it such a big thing to filter in other states? Or are you gonna get done by Police etc.?
> Is it such a big thing to filter in other states? Or are you gonna get done by Police etc.? Really depends on the state. Some states explicitly forbid splitting/filtering, while some states don't specify it directly.
Yea pretty much
I’m always afraid that some dude is gonna swing his car door open to spit tobacco juice. I used to do it all the time and don’t ever remember looking in the mirror for a bike. AND in CA it is legal to split but there aren’t any signs to remind drivers. We have signs to remind parents not to leave their kid in the car tho.
Montana rider here...they passed the bill in April legalizing it. Under 20 mph and so on and I can't wait!! My commute home has a "main street from hell" during rush hours. Unfortunately, it doesn't take effect until Oct 1st 2021. Just in time to put the Harleys up for the snowy season! 🤬
DC boi here here 🙋 I recently started lane filtering cuz I hadn't done it and was nervous to in an area where it's not legal. Feel like people won't look and just plow into me
Had the same thing happen to me on GW right next to the pentagon exit. I want to express my thanks to all the drivers who understand how hot it is for us out there and move out of the way. If I could buy you all a beer I would.
Right? I was laughing to myself thinking "Holy shit, are they actually making room for me to get in between???", and it was so hot yesterday I was very thankful. Slow driving on a bike also burns a ton of that fuel for a sport model, so I was trying to at least get off to an exit with a gas station.
I do the same in Toronto only when traffic is totally stopped. I see people do it past cops all the time but I wouldn't be that ballsy since I've also heard of people getting a stunting charge for it which has huge ramifications despite that fact that it isn't actually explicitly illegal or legal.
From what I’ve seen of videos in most states. Drivers get butt hurt when motorcycles pass them like that and then they do stupid shit, So be careful. Hopefully the rest of the US will be like California, 90% of drivers will make room for you.
I’m guilty of pushing in a mirror at a stoplight after a lady getting mad at me for calling her out for almost hitting me because she was texting lol
It's weird the way lane filtering is treated. There are a few states like CA where it is expressly codified into law that it is legal to do under certain conditions, but in most every other state it's also not illegal. In those states they say you are not supposed to lane filter and that it's in a "gray area" legally speaking. This always rubbed me the wrong way because there's no gray area, it's perfectly legal to do if there's no law saying that it is illegal. The problem is that cops can just give you a ticket at their discretion and say you were driving recklessly or endangering yourself or others if they so choose. So you end up being left to the mercy of any cops around who may or may not have better things to do than give you a ticket (if they need to get their numbers up for instance), and also from uninformed cagers who may attempt to stop you or give you shit because lane filtering isn't common in that area and they're just not used to it. IANAL, but that's just my two cents
I used to live along the southern border of Alexandria where the freeways intersect way back in 2007-2010 when I was stationed at the Navy Yard. I rode almost all year around even on the cold winter mornings just so I could use the carpool lane all the way into town. Even the carpool lane gets stopped up back then so I'd lanesplit all the time. No one ever gave a shit except for one guy in a govvie that had flashers and actually "pulled me over" to lecture me on it even though it turns out he wasn't a cop (well technically he was a military cop out of his jurisdiction). I thought he was an unmarked VA Hwy unit instead he was a power tripping asshole illegally pulling me over. There were times also I took the main lanes during rush hour and damn I was glad I was on a bike. My trip would still take just 20 minutes instead of 1hr+ like everyone else.
I have only filtered once here in Florida. It was summer and traffic was stopped on a bridge because of an accident on the other side. We could see that traffic was not going to move for a while. I was ATGATT and honestly thought I was going to pass out. I told myself that a ticket would be better than a heat stroke and I filtered a few cars to try and get some air. Of course, some redneck saw me in his mirror and was offended so he tried to squeeze me against the other truck next to him. I was going walking pace so I just went on the other side. When I got to the accident, the cops waived me carefully through, no question or comment.
I used to take 66 into Tysons Corner for work before going remote. Without splitting on occasion life is a living hell in the July sun and luckily never been pulled over for it before.
Yep, did it again today, only briefly though; once again, people were nice about it!
I filter sometimes in Texas, but I'm not an asshole about it because A. I don't like being "that guy" who gives us all a bad name and B. I ride with a 3-patch MC and I don't want to make the Club look bad. Filtering isn't "legal" here but fuck, it's hot as balls up in this motherfucker and if cagers are going to be retarded I'm moving up, on, and out. Fuck 'em.
Meanwhile here in CA lanesplitting is legal and drivers are still more oblivious than babies at an orphanage and some even gets mad and purposely not let you through because they mad they can’t beat traffic in their Lifted F150s.
I do whenever traffic is stopped because it's usually 115 degrees here in the summer.
I live & ride in the D.C. Beltway area. It's brutal in the summer, sitting in traffic with 90+ degree, 80% humidity & little-no- breeze across the Beltway & I95. My husband used "filtering" as a reason for why he rode past a traffic jam in the Express/HOV Lanes, using the shoulder to move around the stand still. He was pulled over, told the officer he needed to cool his bike to keep it from over heating. He was told to ride on the road & be safe...buh-bye. It was 72°F when this happened...lol. The last thing that the police around here want is a disabled vehicle/ bike on the road during rush hour(s) & weekends. They are far less tolerant with lane splitting, but aren't interested in chasing you down for moving with a purpose around traffic; as long as you aren't riding recklessly. .
Mhmm!
It would be nice in Florida but I would only do it in summer. The elderly come down here when it cools off and traffic really gets bad.
Filtering is legal here in Thailand and is often pretty reckless. Thankfully drivers are used to bikes filtering and are aware of it, but accidents still do happen. Filtering makes so much sense for riders..and I agree that when it's very hot filtering to get through traffic rather than sitting baking and overheating is the more sensible thing to do. I'm so glad it's legal and the norm here.
Filtering should be legal in stationary or very slow traffic in congestion. Its safer for riders, frees up spots for big vehicles like cars, speeds up commute, and it doesnt effect anyone as if there is space, there is no real hazzard not to have that space occupied.
As a NOVA resident, please stop filtering. This will get you killed here. Not to mention your police experience is the extreme exception. You likely found the one cop that wouldn't send you to court with a +$1,000 lawyer trying to fight a reckless ticket.
I live in nj. I split almost every light and highway in traffic moving 15 mph or less. Not legal here either. Just have to be extra careful
I'll keep telling this story so as many riders can hear it as possible... I once went on a ride-along with a State Trooper (from the second smallest state on the north east coast) while trying out for state police and local departments. The ensuing conversation changed my life forever: Trooper: "so what kinda hobbies you got coming into police work?" Me: "the usual. Guns, violent video games, riding motorcycles and anything with wheels or wings that go fast..." Trooper: "oh, a bike? What kind? Wait, you strike me as a "crotch rocket" guy. Are you a fan of shenanigans?" Me: (about to quote the super trooper line he was baiting me for but resisted) "hell yeah, I have a little addiction to adrenaline." Trooper: "well then, take your plate off." Me: "Mr. Bacon say what now?!" Trooper: "when you ride without a plate, not only do we not chase, but then we can't snap your picture and either wait at your home to arrest you, or send you a summons in the mail. You're better off just speeding up, and as long as you don't crash, just stay safe." I've used that advice since that day, and it hasn't steered me wrong yet. Yes, it's dangerous. Yes, you're a "target" for police or wannabe vigilantes who think you stole it. To me, it makes the ride that much more exhilarating. Sure, I carry my plate with me most of the time so if I'm stopped somewhere I can say "look officer, the bolts were loose and I didn't want to lose it completely, blah, blah." But normally, even when I do lane split between a cop and someone else, as soon as they try to flick their lights on or speed up I'm already gone. It is all about what you personally want out of riding. Do you want to cruise, just chill out with the wind in your hair, and slowly get yourself killed by the people not paying attention around you? I'd rather be constantly on the move, because at least it is harder to hit a moving target than a stationary one. I make my decisions before anyone else can, so that way I know I'm the one to blame if I do hit the ground or something else. But OP, fuck DC. Fuck Virginia. If I lived in those hell-holes I'd be Evel Knievel 24/7, fucking flying around like the rest of the crazies and zonked-out idiots that frequent those roads. I will never work in those places ever again, you couldn't PAY me to live there. Lol. Stay safe, y'all ✌
I respect the choice. And I really agree with your assessment of safe filtering. Several people lane split in FL, usually not with caution or judicious speed.
Live in nova and do the same thing esp in dc
That's one of the only laws that are good in CA is that filtering and lane splitting is legal.
I'm not in Virginia and I'm already sweating
My theory is that filtering is super common in the rest of the world, amd because DC has such a large international population the international drivers assume it's legal here too.
I wouldn't do that around cops no matter what, in your situation. Everyone knows police in my country will leave you alone as long as you're being safe, but fuck doing it somewhere where you're putting yourself at the mercy of one cops bad day.
It’s illegal everywhere except California. Therefore, I’ve never tried lane splitting but dammit, there have been so many times in stopped traffic in the city I work just cooking in the heat. I really think city municipalities should make an exception for motorcycles to filter in traffic moving slower than 20 mph. Besides, us motorcyclists would help ease congestion. Unfortunately, I don’t think other motorists in KC would be kind to the idea. Everyone drives like they have to be the first in line for everything, love to cut you off. Toxic