Just another Horribly Distracted Driver

Other than not using a signal, I don't see the big deal. Maybe the GoPro lens expands the perspective but it certainly didn't look bad. It looked like you were doing 75 MPH as well so it's difficult for the car to judge your closing speed.

IMO, your retaliation was uncalled for. Why not just go about your day and forget trying to intimidate her for what amounted to nothing?
 
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I'm not sure what the laws are like in Cali, but here in NY it's against the law to be on your cell phone in the car. I am at work so don't have PC speakers so I have no sound, but just watching the video it seems that the driver is totally oblivious as to what is going on around the car they are driving. Sure, nothing happened in this instance, but what about next time??

I don't think he was trying to intimidate her, as much as he was trying to make them aware that you are driving a car at highway speeds and should be paying better attention.
 
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We can only hope she understood what he meant but more likely is she just assumed he's another dickhead on a bike yelling at her 'for no reason'. People tend to dismiss personal fault and just blame everything on everyone else

The whole cell phone while driving thing really boils my blood. Nothing is more reckless and ignorant than that, IMO. As far as I'm concerned, you should have your license yanked if you get caught doing it.
 
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Most drivers here on the East Coast dont stay in there own lane let alone letting a bike by . Hell most drivers here ride in the fast lane driving below the speed limit then speed up and try to block you in when your passing them . I dont know if i would filter here even if it where legal !!
 
happens every day, gotta keep at the ready when on a bike thats for sure. i need to get my camera back in action and start recording my commutes for entertainment purposes.
 
To the OP, Lane splitting at the speed you were doing in parts of that clip is way too dangerous. There's no time to react to a car that changes lanes at the last moment.

At the end of the day it's up to you to protect yourself from car drivers, don't rely on them to do it for you.
 
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jared p said:
happens every day, gotta keep at the ready when on a bike thats for sure. i need to get my camera back in action and start recording my commutes for entertainment purposes.
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Jared i dont do a camera because then i would see exactly how close things really were . If i took a close look at some of the shit i missed and close calls i probally would not ride anymore .
I try to put the close calls out of my mind as quick as possible . Dont get me wrong i try and learn something every time !!
 
California Highway Patrol's official stance is that lane splitting is neither allowed nor prohibited (California Highway Patrol - Community) and they took down what used to be the "acceptable guidelines"

I am in agreement with Ballmead. Lane splitting at speed is far too dangerous and should be left for traffic jams and city routes. Be thankful you have this right at all as California is the only state. If enough people complain, it will be taken away at some point.

In New England, a rider would not dare attempt this. Drivers here WILL cut you off on purpose knowing it is illegal.

Based on the video, she was wrong not to signal, wrong for using the phone while driving but I think you shouldn't put yourself in that situation and blend with traffic. Just my opinion in the best interests of your safety, not trying to be an arse here. ;)
 
Here in NSW Australia we are allowed to filter through traffic at a speed no faster than 30 kph.

I'm not a fan of lane splitting at all, there's way too much risk involved IMHO, but I always filter through stopped or slow traffic.

The video in the attached link below explains the rules and I agree with all of it and the reasons why.

Personally,I feel we are lucky here in NSW to have such laws

Lane filtering - Motorcyclists - Staying safe - NSW Centre for Road Safety
 
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I have lane split in California before but only did so when traffic was stopped or crawling. The unofficial guidelines stated that it was feasible to do so if traffic was moving below 35 mph and the bike would filter no more than 10 mph faster than the flow of traffic. It works. I have nothing but positive things to say for the system and all the considerate drivers who gave me space.

When speeds increase and the speed differential between bike and car increases, that's when you invite trouble. Bikes are narrow and difficult to judge speed and distance from, not to mention their size makes them easily vanish behind small obstructions. Add the ever so popular 'high beam on for safety' and you've got an object travelling at speed that's quite difficult to judge.

It's important to remember these things as you analyse the situation around you while belting along the highway. If you want the half wits behind the wheel to see you, you have to make it easy for them.
 
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Dustin said:
I have lane split in California before but only did so when traffic was stopped or crawling. The unofficial guidelines stated that it was feasible to do so if traffic was moving below 35 mph and the bike would filter no more than 10 mph faster than the flow of traffic. It works. I have nothing but positive things to say for the system and all the considerate drivers who gave me space.

When speeds increase and the speed differential between bike and car increases, that's when you invite trouble. Bikes are narrow and difficult to judge speed and distance from, not to mention their size makes them easily vanish behind small obstructions. Add the ever so popular 'high beam on for safety' and you've got an object travelling at speed that's quite difficult to judge.

It's important to remember these things as you analyse the situation around you while belting along the highway. If you want the half wits behind the wheel to see you, you have to make it easy for them.
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Those "guildlines" were removed from the CHP website because people were taking them as laws.

I think the GoPro's Fish eye lens really distorts speed, I was going about 35 and traffic was moving at about 20-25.. that is a differential of only 10-15mph.... plenty safe. If it was not safe I might have run into that lady. I have a few more videos on my channel that show people cutting over at the last min and it not being a problem, specifically because my differential speed is low enough. Lane splitting can be done safely at 70mph as long as the differential speed between you and the cars is very low, 5-10mph. The most dangerous time between the lanes is what you see in this video, when traffic is either speeding up or slowing down and drivers see a gap form and dive for it with their car.

As for her thinking anything about me.... there is no way should could, she never even saw me. I saw that Phone in her left hand and just knew she had to of been using it right before or even possibly during that lane change.

If you go back and look, she came closer to hitting the SUV that was in front of her than anything else.

I was not trying to harass her, I just wanted her to see me so that she might for one second realize that she is sharing the road with motorcycles, and hopefully one day decided to look before changing lanes, or at least use her signal.

By the way, I have followed a number of CHP officers on Bikes and when they are not peeking in everyones cars looking for Distracted driving they lane split much faster than I do.
 
You definitely don't get a good representation of speed from the video. I find it odd that your GoPro footage has a 'speed up' effect when I often find that it has a 'slow down' effect. Curious. What frame rate do you record in?

Thanks for making this thread, lots of good discussion here as a result. :)
 
Dustin said:
You definitely don't get a good representation of speed from the video. I find it odd that your GoPro footage has a 'speed up' effect when I often find that it has a 'slow down' effect. Curious. What frame rate do you record in?

Thanks for making this thread, lots of good discussion here as a result. :)
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I record at 720p 60fps. The faster frame rate makes for better slo-mo video on the occasion I need it. What I notice with the fish eye is that things directly in the middle of shot are closest to real life and the images near the edges get the most distortion, makes things look like they are passing really fast once they get to the edges of the frame. Essentially the wide angle of the fish eye puts much more data compressed into a smaller space, and I think that makes it look much faster on the edges.

Let me illustrate it with Photo's. Here is a picture of the end of a Local Jetty with my Cell Phone Camera:
End%20of%20Jetty%20Regular_zpscuzuxqn0.jpg


Here is a picture in the same spot with my GoPro and the Fish-eye wide-angle Lens:
End%20of%20Jetty%20GoPro_zpszeywgb95.jpg


So much more data is compressed into the frame...


At this point people will just have to trust my judgement and speed when I post stuff like this.
 
Lonney said:
Jared i dont do a camera because then i would see exactly how close things really were . If i took a close look at some of the shit i missed and close calls i probally would not ride anymore .
I try to put the close calls out of my mind as quick as possible . Dont get me wrong i try and learn something every time !!
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i don't even notice them honestly, i just continue on my merry way, it's part of the commute so it's kinda mundane almost. literally every single day 3-4 times a day. its why i always travel at a higher rate of speed than the vehicles around me, and never stay next to a vehicle at cruising speed. one of these days i'll need a camera for legal purposes i'm sure lol
 
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