Did you know that every car you pass while lane splitting is its own offense? If you pass 4 cars, thats 4 counts of lane splitting, with a whopping total of 12 points on your license. I just thought my fellow new yorkers (specificaly nassau county) should be aware of this, I had no idea myself.

 

It's good for those who lane split and live in that area...which I don't do either.

 

Why? Did you get nailed for it?

 

As a fellow Long Islander and motorcyclist for 44 years I would never recommend lane splitting even if it was legal. I drive 30,000 miles a year throughout the Northeast and can attest to the fact that Long Island drivers are the worst. Directional signals and rear view mirrors are never used, every female is either applying makeup or texting while in motion on a phone resting on on their lap (unless they are continually looking down at their "vajayjay" for some reason) and united nations of foreigners who somehow get driver's licenses without passing a test all end up in our neighborhood.

If you want to survive on Long Island follow these tips:
1- Keep your head on a swivel and leave yourself an out.
2- Keep your bike in 1st gear at red lights with your eyes on your mirrors. (Reference the comments above re:females)
3- Ride the Southern State Parkway between the hours of 11AM and 1PM ONLY)
4- Ocean Parkway to the OBI parking lot allows you to breath a little.
5- Get off of Long Island early Saturday or Sunday and enjoy the winding roads of upstate NY or Connecticut if you want to have fun.
6- Make an early Sunday trip to Claudio's in Greenport for a fun day.

PS- Nassau County's financial status is in the toilet so any traffic related fines also have surcharges. Rest assured it will cost BIG $$$ in addition to the points on your license.

 

Hold on folks. Were taking this one for another spin!

 

Back in the day (1960's) when I learned to ride in Brooklyn I lane split all the time and did that all over Brooklyn and the rest of Long Island, and in every state where rode. Never got stopped for it. Then I moved to California in the 1970's where lane splitting was a fact of life. It was only later that lane splitting seemed to become an issue.

A friend in Oregon told me that Oregon legalized lane splitting not long ago but added a proviso to the law that said that any time a bike was lane splitting and that there was an accident, the biker would always be considered to be legally at fault.

 

Damn near every car in NYC has a dent. Wouldn't want to lane split.

 

Yeah, sign me up! I'm going to lane split in a State where it's fairly common for:

1) a driver in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the highway to straddle the on-ramp because they refuse to allow anyone to get in front of them;
2) lane changes are routinely done WITHOUT directionals, because to use a directional will needlessly alert the other driver that you might get in front of them [see #1];
3) speaking of on ramps, it's not uncommon for some douche bag to leave the travel lane of a highway in order to use the on ramp to re-gain those one or two places they may have lost [see #'s 1 and 2];
4) texting and cell phone use [enough said];
5) etc, etc, etc

 

I grew up on Long Island in Westbury. I moved to Ithaca in the late 70's for several years and then to Texas. Back then, it wasn't so bad. Old Country Road flowed well, Roosevelt Raceway was there, Roosevelt Field was a single level and Orbach's and Fortunoff's were popular department stores.

I went back a few years ago to visit my brother and I felt like I was in a time warp. Old Country Road was at a stand still, Roosevelt Raceway was gone, Roosevelt Field was like a high rise and Orbach's and Fortunoff's didn't exist.

There's no way I could live there and forget about lane splitting. The way New Yorkers drive, that would be a death sentence.

 

Lets stay on topic shall we, the amount of points for lane splitting, not the lane spitting debate. That is all over this forum. Oh and keep your NYC and LI bashing to yourselves as well, we have all heard it before. You live in Paradise, we know.

That behind me, I did get pulled over for lane splitting, in Nassau County but it was 23 years ago.

I was stuck in the usual traffic on LIE eastbound near exit 35, running very late to my College graduation (really), cap and gown strapped the the passenger seat and everything. I am splitting like crazy through the stopped traffic, when I see the accident and PD on the right shoulder, so I pull back into a lane. Pass the incident and hammer down. About 2 miles up the road I hear him behind me (barely Sportster with drag pipes doing at least 70), so I pull over thinking he got more for speeding. Highway wants no words with me at all, no excuses no nothing. Comes back with ticket and it is for "riding in the same lane as another vehicle" or some such language. Back on the bike and get to graduation. One week later I get laid off from work. So with my new found free time I go to court to fight it.

Get to court and meet with the ADA. I am still thinking this is a 2 point ticket at best and a fine. I just want it knocked down. He takes me into another room and tells me to say nothing, he will use anything I say against me with the judge!?!??!?! He thanks me for coming in to meet with him and informs me that it is one of the worst moving violations in NYS, 6 points and like a $500 fine!!! (remember this is 1993) But because I came to meet with him, he knocks it down to some sort of non-driving offense, $200 and no points. I say thank you, pay my fine and leave.

Not sure what the current points system is like but regardless, YES splitting lanes, if caught, is a big deal violation. I still do it when needed, but be aware what could happen if you get stopped for it. For me, regardless I am not coming to a complete stop and putting my feet down, that is not happening. Even if I am just cruising along in 1st gear to keep the air flow moving. Stopping is not an option.

Good luck to all.