Ok here goes my 2 cents worth.
Lane splitting, or whitelining as I learnt to call it in the UK.
I worked as a despatch rider in the UK for 2 years doing inter city trips. The motorways were ok and one could keep a reasonable speed up. When a jam occurred then whilst not strictly legal the police forces turned a bling eye to bikers filtering their way throught the traffic.
Hit a big city like London 10+ million people where the average speed of a car is 16kph and a motorbike is 24kkph then filtering becomes an art. Watch the riders in London filtering is mind blowing. No wonder they have a "life expectancy" of 1 year from when they start despatch work.
Back to the point.
Since comming home to NZ and getting back on a bike here I am amazed at how couteous most drivers are when a bike comes up behind. Trucks also. The majority seem to move a little away from the white line so as to give more room. I always try and acknowledge those who have obviously done this.
What I find frustrating is that a lot of the bikers I see on the Auckland motorway seem to be very hesitant when filtering. From my experiences in the UK where traffic density is much greater, I found this to be a recipe for an accident or incident. The ins and outs of the legal side here in NZ I do not know but what I do see is a lot of bikers waiting for an accident.
Sorry if this upsets anyone but I have 35 years of biking behind me. 250,000 miles of despatch work in 2 years in UK. Numerable accidents myself as I'm not perfect. I'm just saying it as I see it.
I learnt over all these years that the greatest asset a bike has is its acceleration. You can get out of trouble faster with a bike than a car but if you are hesitant then that advantage goes.
Enough preaching.
Nice to see a healthy dicussion group going here andf I will lurk for a while. I may even jump in with a comment or question or two.
Dai
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