Should motorbikes be allowed ride through stationary traffic?

[Ducati888]

So how about everyone who rides a bike just sits in the queue, with all the cars then. That way, the 10,000 or so bikes who take no road space at all at intersections, will take the space of a car. Then, if they are in front of you, it adds another ten minutes to your commute because you didn't get through the lights in one cycle, maybe it took two or even three, over three or four major sets. Yep that's a real solution to the "problem".

That makes you ten minutes later for work, the roads even more clogged and everyone just that little bit more irate.

Add to that, the constant bickering about cyclists. Maybe they should all take the car too, adding another 10,000 or 15,000 cars to the road each day. That would be a real solution, wouldn't it? I wish it would happen just one day, so show motorists just what value the two wheelers have by their chosen mode of transport rather than taking the car.

Maybe it's time some motorists looked a bit more outward and less selfishly at the situation rather than just being jealous that the motorcyclists and cyclists are beating them to work every day.

I ride either a pushy or a motorbike to work every day, along the Nepean Hwy to St Kilda Rd. I lane split all the time (on the motorbike). I've got a bar end mirror and a narrow V twin Ducati so I can go between the cars. I get to work in 25 minutes from Parkdale. No worries. Bad hair, big smile. It only takes 45 minutes on the pushy too, and dead set, I have gotten back to Parkdale some evenings in the same time as the cars somtimes. I pick a distinctive car on the road and keep an eye on it at the lights. So often I have been able to go 20km in the same time on the pushy as the car.

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by TE 220

If i actually thought this law would make it safer id be all for it,getting to where you want to be 2 mins earlier because you were weaving through cars stopped at lights,safer????

it is safer to have the bikes at the front of the queue
they generally accelerate quicker than the cars so are far ahead within seconds

it is hard to change lanes into a bike's path if it is ahead of you

[Cano90]

Originally Posted by BF-2K7

..... they should also stop at red lights, dismount and walk across pedestrian crossings, signal when turning, wear helmets, not ride on the footpaths, and pay some sort of registration as they are bound by the road rules too!Imagine how much easier it would be to 'report' a wayward cyclist if they had rego plates!!

I really hope that's sarcasm...

[flappist]

Originally Posted by TE 220

No they should have to sit in traffic like everyone else!
Bike riders know they have more chance of getting hurt on the road and they still choose to ride,the people who hit bikes whilst driving cars are rubbish drivers who would have hit a car or bike regardless because they dont pay attention.
Changing laws wont fix the dangers of riding a bike on the road,make jokes about people driving in cages,ill take my four wheeled coffin/cage anyday at least if someone rear ends me(happened 3 times already) i most likely wont get a single scratch...
If i actually thought this law would make it safer id be all for it,getting to where you want to be 2 mins earlier because you were weaving through cars stopped at lights,safer????

2 minutes? Really?

Brisbane to Nambour 4PM Friday on my KTM 990, 1 Hour
Same trip in a car, 2-2.5 hrs.

You feel safer?

There are some people who LIVE their lives and do unsafe things like play football or drive fast on race tracks or swim in the ocean or visit other countries.

There are others who won't leave their houses and cower in their rooms playing with their computers maybe putting a signature of performance mods because it is SAFER than actually driving..........

[BF-2K7]

Originally Posted by Cano90

I really hope that's sarcasm...

Nope!

[Cano90]

Originally Posted by BF-2K7

Nope!

Your whinging about push bike riders???
I don't see why they would need to pay rego and walk their bikes across intersections? They don't produce any emissions and are generally in their own lane.
Would you like to push your car across an intersection?

Oh and for the record I don't ride a push bike.

Edit: any way back on topic... I think lane splitting is a good idea but I personally don't do it. In Mackay driving like an idiot is the norm for most people.

[flappist]

I wonder just how many of these "safe drivers" and "considerate road users" accelerate, change lanes and cut in front of slower cars or trucks far too closely and without sufficient indication when approaching a red light so they can get away more quickly and not be impeded by the obviously rude and inconsiderate drivers who for whatever reason are going slower than you think they should?

Or is it only rude, inconsiderate and unsafe when others do it where you can't......

[BF-2K7]

Originally Posted by Cano90

Your whinging about push bike riders??? Yes!
I don't see why they would need to pay rego How else can you identify them if they cause an accident? They also use the road and have to abide by the road rules (even tho I dont see them practising the road rules very much or very well) and walk their bikes across intersections? I did say pedestrian crossings didnt I? not intersections - that would just be ridiculous! They don't produce any emissions and are generally in their own lane. Bike lanes are paid for from 'our' rego
Would you like to push your car across an intersection? Only if it broke down or ran out of fuel

Oh and for the record I don't ride a push bike. and your point?

Edit: any way back on topic... I think lane splitting is a good idea but I personally don't do it. In Mackay driving like an idiot is the norm for most people.

yes soz back to the subject

[ratter]

I think everybody who walks on the foot path should have a number tattooed on their forehead, that way if they bump into me I can get their number and report them, I see so many pedestrian J walking, weaving all over the path while walking, talking or texting on their phones, walking with their mp3 players in their ears, hoodies on blocking their peripheral vision, it's just so dangerous out there these days.

[XR6TCraig]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

No way.

It's dangerous, as it puts bikes in close proximity to cars and even worse trucks. And then there is the matter of bike riders scraping handle bars down the side of your car and/or knocking mirrors off your car, and then just disappear between cars to the front of the lane, leaving you to repair the damage to your car.

And Yes I have a bike license and have commuted on bikes for years from western Sydney into the CBD.

You have a bike licence?

Do you actually own a bike at present which you ride? On the road? More than once a year?

I ask because your reply to this post stinks of someone who is actually anti bike.

Lane filtering isn't dangerous unless some anti bike goose in a car tries to make it dangerous by intentionally opening a door or squeezing closed a gap.IE using their car as a road block or a weapon!

We aren't talking about lane splitting at 100kph on a freeway, just at walking pace between rows of stopped traffic.

Not lane filtering leaves the rider in a much more dangerous predicament around larger vehicles as instead of being out in front of all of the loonies in cars and trucks, they are in amongst them and left very vulnerable. If you had actually been on a bike regularly in heavy, congested traffic, you would soon come to realise this and not print the dribble that you did in your post!

As for taking off mirrors or scratching cars, I have never had it happen to me, nor anyone I know, so how regularly has it happened to you?

[ratter]

Originally Posted by BF-2K7

..... they should also stop at red lights, dismount and walk across pedestrian crossings, signal when turning, wear helmets, not ride on the footpaths, and pay some sort of registration as they are bound by the road rules too!Imagine how much easier it would be to 'report' a wayward cyclist if they had rego plates!!

So I take it you are a driver that likes to report other drivers for speeding past you, sit in the right lane, music too loud, talking on their phone etc?

If not why? you want to dob bike riders in

[BF-2K7]

........ um no I'm notHowever I cringe when watching cyclists run red lights, not indicating and nearly get cleared out by a turning vehicles, weave in amonst pedestrians on crossings and footpaths and there is no way of identifying them.As road users cyclists they are the loudest voice when it comes to their rights as road users, however they do nothing to help their image when they flaunt the road rules so blatantly.As a registered road user I am able to be 'reported' by ppl taking down my rego number, how would you do that for a cyclist that knocked down and old lady crossing the road, and just ride away!?....... and I cant 'dob in' in a cyclist 'cos I wouldnt know who they are even if I wanted too! "yes officer, it was the guy on the bicyle wearing the fluro vest and shorts" (followed by a shrug of the shoulders from Mr Plod)

[MITCHAY]

Legal or not they are still going to do it. I have to say there are quite a bit that hold me up though but they are usually riding **** weak bikes. Usually they not any slower than a car anyway and it is one of the perks of owning one I guess. Big deal lol

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Craiginmackay

You have a bike licence?

Do you actually own a bike at present which you ride? On the road? More than once a year?

I ask because your reply to this post stinks of someone who is actually anti bike.

Lane filtering isn't dangerous unless some anti bike goose in a car tries to make it dangerous by intentionally opening a door or squeezing closed a gap.IE using their car as a road block or a weapon!

We aren't talking about lane splitting at 100kph on a freeway, just at walking pace between rows of stopped traffic.

Not lane filtering leaves the rider in a much more dangerous predicament around larger vehicles as instead of being out in front of all of the loonies in cars and trucks, they are in amongst them and left very vulnerable. If you had actually been on a bike regularly in heavy, congested traffic, you would soon come to realise this and not print the dribble that you did in your post!

As for taking off mirrors or scratching cars, I have never had it happen to me, nor anyone I know, so how regularly has it happened to you?

While residing in Sydney I owned and rode bikes for 15 years, four of which included a daily ride from Liverpool to Redfernin peak hour and one year from Liverpool to Mascot, also in peak hour, rain hail and shine. Rode all over Australia, from the great ocean road to Bundaberg and everything in between, so unless you have a lot of riding experience I would say I have more heavy traffic driving experience than most.

If my post stinks as being anti bike that would be strange as I have held a bike license most of my life and have ridden bikes most of my life, even overseas. And will probably be riding bikes again once I move from where I currently live.

Currently do to ride a bike as I live in a remote rural area where a 4x4 with a large ARB bullbar is more appropriate as there are huge amounts of wildlife on the road, and I hardly go a week without hitting at least one roo, and with the worst having been four in one day. That's before you look at the state of the roads around here and the road trains on them. So I choose not to ride a bike out here for my own safety and well being.

So I am talking dribble but you are the master of what is right?? Just because it's your biast and uneducated opinion does not make it right. your post stinks of someone that just got their learner rider, but has not really spend any amount of real time on a bike in real world conditions.

[supershifty]

I've rode motorbikes on the road from when I was 18yo to 40yo. I've always gone "up the guts" in stationary traffic using due care without a problem. Yes, it is illegal to to so. If I didn't feel I was gonna fit through between two cars, I wouldn't try, I'd just pull up and wait then move smartly and blend in with the other "cagers" when traffic got moving - I don't want to damage your car, or more importantly, my bike.

I will admit to the stupid practice when I was younger to weave inbetween and out of moving cars in the 'burbs and highways - in hindsight, that's just plain dumb and begging to get troweled.

Motorcycle riders that drive cars are motorcycle aware and look for you, dedicated cagers aren't looking for you to cut lanes, or realise how quickly you can move in the blink of an eye - they're living in a car world with many distractions. I'm not making excuses for cagers talking on their phones, changing a CD, or adjusting their A/C - fact is they have many distractions and may well miss seeing you. On a bike you just concentrate on two things - the immediate environment around you, and what you're doing.

One thing I've learned for survival on the road with a motorcycle is to keep moving a little ahead of the traffic (speed slightly if you must) and keep the traffic behind you.

Sadly my 'bike days ended when I was 40 as I had a stroke while riding, spent 6 months in hospital, 15 months off work, and couldn't return to my duties. My heart still yearns for a bike, but the brain says no.

Ride safe!

[comagutsa]

this is what can happen at a set of lights people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NumD5ndgGrs

yes i know its on a freeway but just say they were pulling up at a set of lights ...
i will always filter up to the front coz this has nearly happened to me

[XR6TCraig]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

So I am talking dribble but you are the master of what is right?? Just because it's your biast and uneducated opinion does not make it right. your post stinks of someone that just got their learner rider, but has not really spend any amount of real time on a bike in real world conditions.

You've nailed me! With only 400,000klms on road bikes including commuting daily for 5 years in inner Sydney while I completed my university study, too many track days to count and been riding dirt since age 5. Yep I'm am an uneducated learner with no time spent in real world conditions!

And unlike you I still ride despite the terribe road conditions up here, potholes which should have their own postcode, stray cattle, roos and echidnas that make up the regular road kill here. I just choose not to get out where they are until sun up and get back before sun down. I am sure your conditions are worse though. I haven't hit a roo in my work truck since December! Looks like you win!

[Itsme]

Yea go for it as long as they don't get close to cars.

[STINKY NINJA]

Originally Posted by flappist

2 minutes? Really?

Brisbane to Nambour 4PM Friday on my KTM 990, 1 Hour
Same trip in a car, 2-2.5 hrs.

You feel safer?

There are some people who LIVE their lives and do unsafe things like play football or drive fast on race tracks or swim in the ocean or visit other countries.

There are others who won't leave their houses and cower in their rooms playing with their computers maybe putting a signature of performance mods because it is SAFER than actually driving..........

Anyone would think i just abused you personally.
Get over yourself mate.
How is me putting a signature of what ive done to my cars having anything to do with motorbike safety,seriously?
You are a temporary citizen my friend...

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by trublu

Yea go for it as long as they don't get close to cars.

This I see as a problem as the lanes are designed for one vehicle to be in, so when the roads were made the plan was never for a bike and a car to be next to each other in the same lane.

There may be plenty of bike riders who can do this, but I bet there are plenty that can not, especially the ones with 3 foot wide handle bars.

What about when you get cars and 4x4's with large mirrors and trucks with large mirrors that could pose a risk to the rider and a risk of damage to the vehicle.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by TE 220

Anyone would think i just abused you personally.
Get over yourself mate.
How is me putting a signature of what ive done to my cars having anything to do with motorbike safety,seriously?
You are a temporary citizen my friend...

We are all temporary citizens.

Some of us LIVE while others just exist.......

[comagutsa]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

This I see as a problem as the lanes are designed for one vehicle to be in, so when the roads were made the plan was never for a bike and a car to be next to each other in the same lane.

There may be plenty of bike riders who can do this, but I bet there are plenty that can not, especially the ones with 3 foot wide handle bars.

What about when you get cars and 4x4's with large mirrors and trucks with large mirrors that could pose a risk to the rider and a risk of damage to the vehicle.

if a gap is to small i stop, its easy and if i cant walk my bike past i just stay there
i have only evey hit 1 mirror and that was coz the bloke was trying to squeeze me in

[BF-2K7]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

What about when you get cars and 4x4's with large mirrors and trucks with large mirrors that could pose a risk to the rider and a risk of damage to the vehicle.

...... c'mon give motorbike riders some credit, if the gap isnt wide enough you wouldnt go through it! Commonsense really

[XR6TCraig]

Indeed! Especially seeing as he is supposed to be a fellow rider.

[PM308]

Originally Posted by SgtBourne

Yeah I'm all for it. To be honest they don't hold you up at all so they're gone as soon as the light is green, I think it is safer for them to be at the front rather than sandwiched between cars.

Especially since people love to creep forward whilst playing on their phone etc.

i totally agree with you being somebody that rides occasionaly myself, once the light is green im gone i will not hold anybody up you wont even know i was there.....people just get the ***** cause they are stuck and dont like any one else getting through quicker

as long as they dont bang your mirrors up i dont see the prob

[flappist]

Originally Posted by BF-2K7

...... c'mon give motorbike riders some credit, if the gap isnt wide enough you wouldnt go through it! Commonsense really

It's called clutching at straws.......

Bottom line, it is legal NOT mandatory.

If you ride and choose not to do it then that is your choice.
If you bump into a vehicle while doing there is no difference between that and the morons in giant 4WDs who are always too close to other vehicles on both sides in urban areas and carparks making it difficult for others.

If there is an event the guy on the bike is the one who wears not the guy in the car/truck so how about a little bit of tolerance for others as you may be surprised just how many people think that "your" vehicle or preferred driving style/places are wrong and should be banned.....

[BF-2K7]

...... huh? no comprehende vous.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by BF-2K7

...... huh? no comprehende vous.

So you read English as well as you write........is that supposed to be French?

If so the correct grammar, well vernacular anyway, is "ne vous comprends pas".

As far as the other, it is legal not mandatory.

This means that you do not have to do it of you do not want to.

The rest means that all drivers/riders are responsible for their actions and if a rider bumps a mirror then that is no different to driver of a vehicle with wide mirrors or whatever bumping something else.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by flappist

It's called clutching at straws.......

Bottom line, it is legal NOT mandatory.

If you ride and choose not to do it then that is your choice.
If you bump into a vehicle while doing there is no difference between that and the morons in giant 4WDs who are always too close to other vehicles on both sides in urban areas and carparks making it difficult for others.

If there is an event the guy on the bike is the one who wears not the guy in the car/truck so how about a little bit of tolerance for others as you may be surprised just how many people think that "your" vehicle or preferred driving style/places are wrong and should be banned.....

So you call people in large 4x4 'morons' yet you plead tolerance

Seems like the kettle calling the pot black to me

PS: it's not legal yet, apart from a few streets in Sydney CBD where it is being trailed, the rest of the state and it is still against the law.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

This I see as a problem as the lanes are designed for one vehicle to be in, so when the roads were made the plan was never for a bike and a car to be next to each other in the same lane.

There may be plenty of bike riders who can do this, but I bet there are plenty that can not, especially the ones with 3 foot wide handle bars.

What about when you get cars and 4x4's with large mirrors and trucks with large mirrors that could pose a risk to the rider and a risk of damage to the vehicle.

Well hence my statement if too close do not do it but if plenty of room go for it.
Not all roads are narrow, we have single lane roads that are wide.