At Two Slow, we take a benevolent view to most drivers.  We know you’re not trying to kill us, you’re just driving a 4,000 pound, sound proof entertainment center.  Hell, just the other day I saw a commercial where they were bragging about the noise reduction capability of their new truck’s cab.  People don’t look for us on bikes, their brain isn’t trained to see anything smaller than a Honda CRV, they can’t hear us because their cars are hermetically sealed with double pane windows, and they’re too busy texting or talking on the phone to notice us trying to get to work.

Here in California, lane sharing (lane splitting, splitting traffic, et al) is legal as long it is done safely.  The CHP has issued guidelines for motorcyclists and motorists to follow.  Shockingly, however, I continually have non-riders ask me questions:  ”Do you split lanes?”  ”Isn’t that illegal?”  ”It’s unsafe, why do you do it?”  ”What should I do when I see a bike splitting?”  ”Why did that guy look/wave/glare at me?”  ”Why did that guy give me the finger?”  And so and so forth.  I can’t possibly cover every single situation or explain every single rider’s behavior (just like I don’t expect you to explain every driver’s behavior), but maybe we can come to some common ground.  Read on to learn how to be a good lane sharing partner.

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