Modern Vespa

In the UK, we are taught (particularly when doing advanced rider training) how to safely filter through slow moving traffic. I.e. town traffic moving at slow speed, and you scoot or bike past the line towards the centre of the road, obviously taking great care and observing driver's reactions. You 'filter' back into the line of traffic at relevant spots such as oncoming cars or a traffic island/bollard, putting your hand up to say 'thanks' as you pull back in. Call it progression if you want. Great on a scooter in city areas!

Sometimes this is abused by the nutter sports bike riders, who zoom past cars and dive back in and scare drivers with loud exhausts and sudden moves.

I've heard that you guys in the States don't overtake with your motorcycles like this in heavy traffic conditions? In fact I've watched bikers just sitting behind cars & trucks in very wide carriageway, thinking 'Just ride round!'.

If so, is it a legal thing, or a social no-no?

I think it depends where in the states you are. In California, it's sort of legal to lane split (as it's generally called here), but the law allowing it is ambiguous and leaves a lot of room for interpretation. I think it's outright illegal in many parts of the US.

My motorcycle safety course didn't really teach anything about it, though, even though I'm in California.

It's legal here only because it's not illegal. There's no specific legislation referring to lane splitting, whether endorsing or prohibiting it, unlike every other state.

I lane split constantly, but generally follow the practices described by the original poster.

Jon is more correct here than I am. I'm confusing "law" and public statements on the subject made by the California Highway Patrol.

From the CHP FAQ:
Can motorcycle riders "split" lanes and ride between other vehicles?
Lane splitting by motorcycles is permissible but must be done in a safe and prudent manner.

It's illegal in Wisconsin.

http://www.amadirectlink.com/legisltn/laws.asp

Extremely useful link in sorting out the motorcycle laws pertaining to your state.

Good link Jon. Thanks. And right on to the Vespastics! Tell us about the "Night Of" rally.

Lane splitting is illegal in Virginia and will land you a reckless driving citation if your nabbed doing it, and that will jack your insurance premiums about $1,000/yr. Sadly many of us live in states where nuanced reasoning doesn't enter into traffic laws so all it takes is one anal cop and you're screwed.

I can understand a prohibition on the truly reckless lane splitting most of us have experienced, but to prohibit a Vespa from going around stopped traffic is oppressive. It's the same thinking that makes rolling at a stopsign the same infraction as blowing through the thing a full speed.

What ever happened to reason? Did I miss the announcement of it's departure?

Glad I asked the question now!
In London, if you didn't filter through traffic jams, you'd be riding nowhere! In fact that's why many folks buy scooters in UK cities, to beat the queues 'cus they can squeeze round the vehicles. Never put your arm out if in stationary traffic; some numpty courier biker will have it off :?

Mind you, you guys have much nicer wide open spaces to ride along generally 8)

This might be too crazy, but does anyone happen to know the laws in Vancouver, BC, Canada?

Lane-splitting is something I've been interested in for a while now, and although I do some simple stuff like going around all the stopped cars in the right lane when I need to go right at the red light, I have to admit I'm worried about the fines.

Maybe someone already mentioned this, but I thought part of the idea of lane splitting in traffic was to allow the bike to keep moving and thus keep an air cooled bike from overheating. California keeps pretty warm and might be a reason its still legal here. Of course, I haven't heard of too many scooters overheating but for bigger faster bikes, it can be a problem.

I've heard that story before. It might even be true, especially for SoCal, where the freeways are especially jammed.

I actually had my GT's temperature get kinda high yesterday in stop and go traffic through Golden Gate Park. It got hot enough that my fans actually turned on for the first time ever, at about the 3/4 mark. Kinda noisy, but they brought the engine temp down in a hurry.