I have some cousins that live in Houston. I would tell them, they were brave souls.Have ridden/filtered through Malaysia and Thailand - which seemed reasonably safe since there were HORDES of bikes doing it (mostly 125s and scooters). We won't even add in the increased degree of difficulty in adapting to riding on the left (they both used to be Brit colonies...). Plus the fact I needed to keep up with my brother-in-law and his local riders group who were on slimmer bikes than mine (my first trip I had a "loaner" Goldwing; 2nd time it was an R1200RT). As for TX, I agree with the sentiment of most that the overly aggressive Houston drivers would need some serious education and behavior modification (good luck with that) - and remember that 1 in 7 TX drivers don't even have the mandatory auto insurance, despite it being "mandatory". Since I mostly drive my double-wide Goldwing-Hannigan sidecar rig nowdays, I don't really have a dog in this hunt anyway!
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Lane filtering petition?
- Thread starter RSTX
- Start date
I think lane filtering is done when traffic is stopped. Lane splitting is when traffic is moving. I could be wrong. To be honest, I didn't know there was such a thing as filtering before stumbling on YN's video. I thought it was all splitting.
Filtering is when traffic is stopped or moving slowly (35 or less), and is done no faster than 5 mph faster than traffic.
mlinkibikr
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Lane filtering works. It's safe. And yes it would require a MASSIVE amount of publicity and LEO presence (and ticketing) to convince the knuckle draggers in the pickups that you weren't taking their dog and children away from them.
Having said that we have this discussion every three years or so when it comes up and it never makes it to the legislative agenda in Austin so I wouldn't bet we'll ever see it in Texas. Shame though.
Having said that we have this discussion every three years or so when it comes up and it never makes it to the legislative agenda in Austin so I wouldn't bet we'll ever see it in Texas. Shame though.
P-Ratt
0
LEO special interests group(s) in Austin have to bless any legislation like this before legislators will let it get anywhere. That's why the attempts to explicitly legalize these practices have died in committee every single time.
I don't believe this effort will go anywhere but to die in committee at best.
YES! These things should absolutely be legal.
I don't believe this effort will go anywhere but to die in committee at best.
YES! These things should absolutely be legal.
woodsguy
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Doesn't matter to me, guess I'd hope it'd pass. But the aggression I see from some drivers already when nothing has been done wrong, I won't be trying my luck sliding by them in traffic anytime soon!
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If that was the case then why did it take decades to clarify the law to explicitly make it illegal? LEOs did NOT want an ambiguous law that they couldn't interpret but they had one for decades! So......your reasoning makes no sense!
P-Ratt
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I can only relate to you what the people in power have said. I attended a motorcycle conference last year with one of these legislators who's office has expressed interest in this, but in the end watched
these efforts killed with the aforementioned special interest groups and others.
P-Ratt
0
Here's one specific example. There are many points just for law enforcement, never mind others. The LEOs want it shown how they can enforce these things. How are they supposed to catch a motorcycle splitting, filtering, or sharing in traffic? Until there is an acceptable answer to them for every circumstance possible they will not be letting it thru.
I have split lanes in Fort worth for 26 years now. I thought it was legal in the beginning. I hear now that it us not, but that is one infraction I have never been stopped for. I would prefer filtering at red lights to get out ahead of everyone, but am scared of stopped road rangers. I wait til it turns green hit the dotted line and shoot between, usually clear the cars before leaving intersection.
dukey33
0
Another thought: bicycles already do it and the proliferation of “e-bikes” may influence what the law will look like.
As we all know, the challenge with bicycles is they filter to the front and then impeded traffic. E-bikes may be not quite as bad but will eventually have to be overtaken by auto traffic too.
As we all know, the challenge with bicycles is they filter to the front and then impeded traffic. E-bikes may be not quite as bad but will eventually have to be overtaken by auto traffic too.
Bicycles not following the law may not be the best example
Most bicyclist I see in Houston area pretty much ignore any traffic codes, they are actually worse than the Metro buses at red lights and stop sign compliance.