Millions of South Africans around the country get up every morning dreading one constant form of daily stress inducing phenomenon, traffic jams. Sure alternative arrangements can be made to avoid this back ache of a commute to and from work, but these come at the price of freedom. These include, but are not limited to the freedom to stop at a drive-through for coffee, freedom from having lunch at a place further than a walk away from the office and freedom from pretty much anything involving you having to drive there yourself.
Still somehow a group of commuters have devised a way to bypass this dilemma of freedom versus morning headache and awful commute. These groups of “inline commuting stuntmen of note” are known as bikers, scooters and more specific, “Lane-Splitters”. Everybody sitting in a traffic jam every morning can confess to seeing these groups of commuters biking on by as if traffic is something left for the birds and silly folk.
This phenomenon is in no way new, recalls men dressed in khaki shirts, ties and dress shoes on their Honda 250’s, zoom on by while he slumps it in his Cortina. Yet as traffic and the constant rise of fuel increased over the years, the practice of two wheeling it, to and from work has become more appealing. Sitting in bumper to bumper traffic knowing that a commute any other time of day would take less than a quarter of what you may have left, makes it rather appealing swopping your sedan for a petrol sipping scooter.
This gain of commuter’s freedom may be a less stressful option, but does the inherent danger of riding your motorcycle through traffic on packed highways suggest that you have less stress and frustration to deal with? This practice or skill of avoiding jam packed traffic is known as Lane-Splitting , lane sharing, whitelining, filtering or stripe-riding. Upon asking a bike riding paramedic for his unique opinion on Lane-Splitting his comments can be summed up as follow: “I love it, but it’s lethal”
Using those few open inches between the two lanes, Lane Splitters masterfully guide their motorbikes through the gaps avoiding the stop and go movement completely. Every now and then you would witness a slower biker jump into a gap behind a car so that the faster biker behind him can nip on by. This freedom of free flowing traffic within a traffic jam comes with its own real dangers. Motorists looking for the fastest lane regularly hop from lane to lane, wanting to gain the upper hand on traffic. This presents a real threat for lane-splitters as traveling at an accelerated speed between the vehicles can result in a collision with motorcars. Add to the fact that the impatient motorist’s lane changing movement may be done without warning and sudden, reduces reaction time
So what does the law state about Lane-Splitting? Contrary to popular belief Lane-Splitting is actually legal in South-Africa, says Howard Dembovsky the National Chairman of Justice Project South Africa. Article 298 of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 1999, allows a motorcycle to pass another vehicle in the same lane, either to the right or the left of the other vehicle, subject to certain provisions. Article 309 reiterates this, with the proviso that more than one motorcycle may not pass another vehicle at the same time.
Still considering the fact that it is legal, even the hardest of bikers with the most experience can not deny the fact that Lane-Splitting is a dangerous practice. The premise of the situation allowing the practice of Lane-Splitting makes for a minefield crossing experience. Through the years the motorcyclists have adopted various methods to warn other motorists of their presence and have even started to wear and make use of different equipment to improve visualization. Amber lights and bright yellow reflective bibs in your side mirror improve visualisation towards motorcyclist.
Stewart Hendry Marshal Portfolio Head of Think Bike in the Western Cape has the following to say on the matter: “The Think Bike Safety and Awareness campaign, while upholding the right of motorcycles to lane-split, recommends a differential speed of no more than 20-25 km/h during lane-splitting(for example, if the surrounding traffic is travelling at 20 km/h, the motorcycle should not be travelling faster than 40-45 km/h).At these speeds lane-splitting is reasonably safe, and it has the benefit of easing traffic congestion on the road. It benefits other road users too, because every lane-splitting motorcycle is one less vehicle between you and your destination”
Regardless if you ride a motorcycle or drive an automobile we need to acknowledge the fact that no matter how experienced you consider yourself to be as a driver, your commute is anything but predictable. Safety precautions such as safety belts and helmets are not there for your consideration, they are there for your safety and must be used. Day time driving lights and amber lenses are great extra’s on the safety bouquet, yet the most advanced piece of safety equipment in or on any vehicle whether it has two wheels or more, is you the driver. Pay attention to the road and be vigilant for other road users around you, as you are just as much responsible for their safety as you are for your own and that of your passengers. Remember to contact ER24 on 084124 for realhelprealfast should an emergency arise.
Andre Visser, ER24
View also: Motorcyclists must respect traffic lanes
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