To Lane-Split Or Not To Lane-Split?

That really is the question, isn’t it? As I mentioned in last month’s road safety column, we are a third of the width of a car so we can take advantage of this when threading through traffic. But it’s not as simple as that.

- Harry Fisher

It’s one thing to thread your way to the front of a queue of stationary traffic at a traffic light or junction, but another thing entirely to lane-split through moving traffic on a two-lane road or highway.

This takes advantage of our inherent narrowness but the risk increases dramatically when everyone is moving, albeit in the same direction.

As with so much when riding a bike, caution and a realistic appraisal of the situation on a second-by-second basis coupled with a healthy dose of patience is essential when lane-splitting. A speed differential of around 20km/h between yourself and the traffic you are riding amongst is deemed to be acceptable. Any faster and you are simply opening yourself up to trouble, considering braking distances increase with speed and you might not give yourself enough space to stop when a car or truck or bus decides to dive for that gap to his left or right in the belief that it will get him further up through the queue.

Reducing your speed has other benefits. It gives you more time to take in all the little signals that come at you. As much as possible, look out for movements of the driver’s head; maybe he’s checking his mirror before making a manoeuvre?