I doubt that the drivers are particularly bothered by being passed like that but at the same time I don’t suppose they’d be bothered if he got squashed flat either. I don’t ride like that because I don’t like that level of risk but perhaps if I lived in London again I might get a bit more focused on ‘getting through’. Even after 40 years of living in Nottingham I have never really got used to the dozy drivers.

Saw a news report this morning about a road rage incident resulting in a shooting. The reporter cited a federal report that suggests one in four US drivers experiences uncontrollable road rage. That’s scary.

I don’t want to pressure my higher power to keep me safe from bad choices.

“Berming” seems especially dangerous since you don’t expect activity to pass on that side and I could see all sorts of situations develop that would not be good for a rider. It kind of happens here on campus when bicycle riders zip by between my car and the curb, especially at intersections. I’ve learned to watch for them but I wonder what’s going on in their gourd when they ride that way.

Good question that relates to everyone in a hurry — what’s the mad rush about?

Thanks for the link to the article Don. As much sense as it makes logically I have a hard time with the cultural aspects — queue jumping would make drivers crazy. Until the world doesn’t rebel at the notion of someone else getting over on them I can’t see it ever being safe here.

I posted the video in part as a curiosity but probably more so as an example of the more dangerous things a rider can do on the road albeit in only a few places. It reminds me of the difference between what can be done and what makes sense. Each of us has to make that decision. Around here we can’t lane-split so the parallel for me is speed. Lots of riders exceed the speed limit and invoke a kind of horsepower aesthetic to justify it. Like lane-splitting, at least in part, it seems risky with suspect rewards.

But at the end of the day we each make our own choices.

I think California is the only state to allow filtering. Pennsylvania certainly doesn’t allow it. Living in central Pennsylvania there isn’t enough traffic to even think about it. A traffic jam here is a 5 minute wait…

I’ve seen aerial views of California expressways with traffic at a standstill. From that perspective there is a lot of space between vehicles and I might be tempted to lane-split at a walking speed or a bit faster. Certainly not at road speeds.

I’ve read of people claiming big commute time changes. Hard to sit in traffic for two hours knowing you could just ride between the traffic.