Lane Splitting

Do bikes get away with alot or not?. Today i lane split a couple of times
late for work through surfers...(schoolies and stuff going on)... At one
stage i was pulled up beside a cop car...they checked out the bike...the
lights went green i took off up to the speed limit then merged into their
lane...
A few sets later i was again in front of a paddy wagon... nothing.

Has anyone in the NG ever been ticketed for lane splitting...or even using a
bus lane?...

Josh - ZX9R

 

As with everything else in life - as long as you're not being silly about
it, I think you should be mostly ok. I.e. watch relative speeds etc ...
don't wanna be doing _much_ more than +20 kph, don't make riding decisions
on the assumption anyone will see you etc etc.

Wouldn't surprise me if others were to share that sentiment.

j

 

Mate mate mate...

I'll share with you the secret of getting a minor ticket or not.

Its all attitude. If you are nice to the copers, tell them you didn't think
you were hurting anyone and wont do it again..

I lane split a fair bit on the GC when I lived there, as long as you do it
safely, and when cars are stopped, not moving.

Be nice and you should get off all minor traffic things like that..

I am a copper, I have let people off many times who are nice, and hammered
those who are not..

If you be a dickhead you will wind up with a 5 tickets a few defects.

Simple as that
Cst Plod

VTR250 >Gawn
CBR600F4i

 

In NSW using bus lanes is legal anyway, so it's unlikely you're going to get
a ticket for it.

I've spoken to several NSW police officers about lane-splitting and while it
remains illegal, all of them have expressed the sentiment that as long as
you are a) not being a dickhead (pulling monos out of the lights, etc) and
b) riding at a reasonably slow speed so as to not startle cage drivers, then
you are not going to warrant their attention.

I suspect that anyone who actually has received a ticket for lane-splitting
was probably doing something else more annoying to raise the ire of the blue
line boys/gals.

Manning

 

....and start answering to the name Biggus.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R
'02 CBR1100XX

 

so using bus lane on a bike is legal in nsw ?!?! you sure about that ?

 

It has been for quite some time. I think there are special 'bus only' lanes in Sydney that you cannot use, but the
garden variety 'bus/taxi' lanes are certainly open to bikes as well.

Damien
GPX250 (stolen) -> CBR600

 

Yes - definitely legal. Bus lanes, including the nicely paintd red ones in
the cbd are legal for motorbikes & taxis. Makes heading home down Parammatta
Rd a lot quicker in the afternoons.

From the NSW RTA book pg 72

Bus Lanes - These lanes are for buses, but can also be used by taxis, hire
cars, vehicles operated by or under direction of the RTA, bicycles and
motorcycles. Other vehicles may only enter a bus lane 100 metres before
turning. The only vehicles that are allowed to stop in a bus lane are buses
at a bus stop or taxis and hire cars when picking up or setting down
passengers.

Buses Only - When the words Buses Onlyappear on the "Bus Lane" sign shown
above, only buses are allowed to drive in these lanes.

 

Note that he said"N.S.W."
Do that here in QLD, and learn the difference between Bus/Transit T2 & T3
Lanes the hard way.
The reason lane splitting, IS illegal, is that in QLd at least, a
driver/rider is allowed to overtake another vehicle on the left hand side,
provided that the driver is turning right, turning right to entering private
property,using a marked lane,and so on.
It doesn't matter that there is another vehicle to your left, so that you
are overtaking him on the correct right hand side, if you can't satisfy the
first situation above.
Remember these rules came about before cars had mirrors on both sides. Only
a internal rear view mirror is a legal requirement on older cars, and it is
about 3 or 4 years from memory, that Qld drivers, have to indicate that they
are turning left, in the quest for National comformity.

 

Bus lane in NSW is legal, in QLD its illegal...

 

Adelaide cops seem fairly unconcerned about it. There's a bike cop
with whom I regularly share the same path to work, him on his old
Beemer (he sulked how the department hasn't had the funds to buy new
bikes), and me on my little sv. I'm quiet impressed by his riding,
actually. He gets through the smallest of gaps. Moving traffic, to the
left and right of cars, its all fair game...

Cheers

Salih
SV650

 

I also had a policeman complain that HE got booked for lane splitting in
Cooma of all places!

Greg

 

Its all attitude. If you are nice to the copers, tell them you didn't think

You couldnt possibly be that stupid to believe that shit could you?

The Defence rests....

 

Ive been nice to cops before, and 89.9% of the time it gets you
NOWHERE.. they are on this power trip, and LOVE their job..

 

~
And what's amazing is that you can't even see how egotistical and
megalomaniacal that paints you?
How would it be if the rest of the public servants started abusing their
power in the same way?

"Wanna' get your plans approved? No way; you didn't suckup enough now you
have to wait 6 months more"
"Wan't your 'flu shots? Uh uh; I don't like the way you're standing. You
can just tough it out!"
"You ain't riding this bus sonny; you gave me a funny look when you got
on!"

Wake up to yourself and start enforcing the law without favour (like you
swore to!) or just **** off and be expect to be treated like a pig.
Clem

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 1 Dec 2003 07:45:37 +1000

ON the other hand, if people *don't* get let off, how they howl.

IF he wasn't "excercising his discretion" then he'd be attacked for
that.

So if he's going to be turning a blind eye, then at least he'd doing it
for people with good manners.

Zebee

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 01 Dec 2003 09:33:46 +1100

Pretty much.

Cops know by experience that 2-% of the people cause 80% of the problem
(or maybe 10% and 90%). And so they profile. They try and pick if the
bod in front of them is one of that 20%.

They know that agressive attitude and defensiveness is a mindset, the
mindset of someone who reckons they are not the same as everyone else,
that they can and should be able to do things others can't, that the
rules don't apply to them. So someone with that attitude is more likely
to be part of the 20%.

Difficulty is that individual coppers have filters that might be wrong.
Some have "if he's a boong he's going to be a wrong'un" for example.
Because they do see a lot of Aboriginals through the courts. And it's
easier to spot them than to spot whites who might have similar problems
with poverty and illiteracy and socialisation. But if they do spot
those whites, then they seem to treat them the same.

OThers figure "riding a sportbike, there's trouble", because they see
lots of sportbikes in crashes, they see lots of sportbikes doing silly
things in traffic. And if they notice more of those than others, they
are going to lump sportbike riders into the 20%.

They have to do this kind of filtering because otherwise they can't do
their job. They can't do everyone because the paperwork would cripple
them. It's a far from ideal situation, but it's the reality.

I'd far rather they filtered on manners than on skin colour or bike
type. I know they are going to filter on *something*, so let it be
something the punter has control over.

Zebee

 

Jesus H Christ Zebee!!!!! How can a thread about Police doing their job and
using common sense with relation to infringement notices end up about poor
little black fellas and how there being picked on.

The basic premise is that if the copper feels that you're a good bloke and
speak to the man civilly with out coming up with all the bullshit excuses
under the sun, he might give you a break, and good on him. On the other hand
if you're a turd and speak to him like shit then expect the worst. Why do
people assume because you wear a uniform that your a ****. I know plenty of
cunts, civilians, Police, crims, gage drivers and god forbid bike riders.
But the majority are decent people. The boy in blue is fucked if he does and
fucked if he doesn't. If I get a ticket and Ive done the wrong thing, so be
it. But if I have done the wrong thing and I get a let off, brilliant. Its a
bonus, not a right.


Shells
(Commonsense applies)

 

*looks out window*

-----sharks

 

Want to get your phone connected???

Oops, thats Telstra techs anyway.