edit: some states allow lane splitting. not wa or ca, for sure. in wa, lane splitting is a guaranteed $185 fine. american commuters aren't good at respecting riders in heavy traffic -- too many dead riders from sudden lurches or inattentive lane straddles.
as typical in the yew-ess-of-ay, anyone can walk in and get a learner permit and then all you hafta do is take a test within six months. no required course, no clear newb identifier. it's kinda stupid, which is why we have so many fatalities and gruesome accidents when dipshit 20-somethings go straight from dirt bike to gixxer/hayabusa and wind up a giant smear on hwy 2.
what we DO have is the motorcycle safety foundation courses, which are $80 to $125 depending on your region, and which offer awesome training from pro riders. if you successfully pass their test, you automatically get the license -- and it's not a cakewalk. (i barely passed with a 91 out of 100 after i botched the u-turn. i will always hate the yamaha virago because of this.) it's 24 hours of pretty grueling time on the bike, and they criticize the living heck out of you. (they also kick the jerkoffs out of class if they drop the bike or get too stupid, which is awesome. fuck, they kick you out if you don't show up for any of the three days without proper helmet/gloves/jacket/boots.) they do this because most american riders are mentally distinguished mentally-challenged and they want the roads safe, you safe, and the hobby safe from the state/fed regulations that follow in the wake of too many dead idiots.
they put you on a 125 or 250cc bike like an oldish rebel or virago, which have bears of clutches, and you spend 16 of the 24 hours riding while they watch and point out all the unsafe shit you're doing. it should really be mandatory.
edit: some states allow lane splitting. not wa or ca, for sure. in wa, lane splitting is a guaranteed $185 fine. american commuters aren't good at respecting riders in heavy traffic -- too many dead riders from sudden lurches or inattentive lane straddles.
why the fuck eastside bicyclists take 45 mph backroads with no shoulder is beyond me. they almost deserve some fender-inflicted pain
People do lane-split in California all the time. I didn't even realize it was illegal until I read this thread, that's how common-place it is.
You're an idiot. First of all, there aren't bike lanes on every road. Roads are the domain of everyone and have been since time immemorial. They are used by everyone's tax dollars to allow people to travel, whether by foot, bicycle, horse, moped, automobile, etc. The only exception is restricted access highways such as interstates. Bicyclists are reducing traffic, reducing their carbon footprint, and generally making the world a better place. If you have to wait ten whole seconds to find an opportune time to pass them use that ten seconds to try and climb out of your ego and realize that just because you are riding around in a steel cage that is capable of going 140mph, inside you are still a mushy bag of organs that means nothing to the world and your ten seconds mean nothing to anyone and never will.
Took this pic today :)Dude do you live in either Wales or Poland ?
(http://i48.tinypic.com/1glj6b.jpg)
they also go SLOW, and SLOW is for FEGS. ten seconds is ten seconds i will never get back because some gawping git in spandex couldn't be bothered to plan his route to use bike lanes in a pair of cities that claims on their own signage that they are "THE BIKE CAPITAL(S) OF THE PACIFIC NW," and instead decided to let ten cars pile up behind him on a shoulder-less road as he goes 1/4th the posted speed. that's not acceptable when a CAR does it -- despite the "roads are freeeeee!" idea -- and it's sure as hell not acceptable when a bicyclist does it. hey, if I walk down the middle of a busy backroad as a pedestrian, i'm saving carbon! SO SORRY ABOUT MY 2.5 MPH AND ASSOCIATED HAZARD, oh look the camry and suv parade turned me into asphalt paste and THE BUSINESS DOESN'T FEEL SORRY FOR MEEEE
Go drive your Mustang into a wall, douchebag.
chalk me up as another bicyclist hater. They slow everything down and are ALWAYS smug. I'm pretty sure every bicyclist's dream is to get hit by a car - not fatally of course, but just enough to warrant a lawsuit. Their understanding of the law leads to them doing stuff like deciding to take a drink during a red light - "oh it's green now, guess I'll slowly put my vitamin water back in my bag and...oh wait, another red light! guess I'll just take another sip instead!" So they're actually holding car drivers hostage >:(
Unsurprising opinions coming from people living in the fattest nation in the world (http://cdn.hivehealthmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/oecd-obesity-by-country-2010.png) with the highest gasoline consumption per capita by a large margin (New Zealand is pretty bad too but America trumps all) (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IS.ROD.SGAS.PC/countries/1W-US-AU-NZ-CA?display=graph)
Unsurprising opinions coming from people living in the fattest nation in the world (http://cdn.hivehealthmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/oecd-obesity-by-country-2010.png) with the highest gasoline consumption per capita by a large margin (New Zealand is pretty bad too but America trumps all) (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IS.ROD.SGAS.PC/countries/1W-US-AU-NZ-CA?display=graph)
I am a man without a country. :(
Seriously, fuck nearly everyone in this thread though. You are the worst kinds people. I'm not being hyperbolic to be funny, I really think you are pieces of shit.
slow your roll, Business. You fought for my right to laugh at you on the internet:lol