DescentBB

It is not illegal in California to share lanes with a motorcycle. Motorcycles can split lanes if it's safe and they're doing no more than 10MPH faster than traffic.

B-

10 mph faster.... so if the cars are stopped, if the bike is going faster than 10mph, its illegal , I am GUESSING the biker was doing about 30, gave him time to slow, swerve and hit an object without breaking his arm off. Any slower and he would have stopped, again, guessing.

I actually learned a lot from this mega-post...good job.

Thanks. I just visited that same intersection today and learned a few things:

1. Carpenter Street is indeed 3 lanes in each direction (I didn't remember how many before).

2. Both lanes of N 9th Street are RIGHT TURN ONLY.

3. There's a big fat white crosswalk-like line (but it isn't a crosswalk, just a thick limit line) extending from the middle double yellow at the end of N 9th street, crosses all three of the east-bound lanes on Carpenter, and terminates at Carpenters middle double yellow lines.

4. There are NO LEFT TURN signs at N 9th Street.

5. That makes the right hand lane of N 9th turn into the right hand lane of Eastbound Carpenter, and the left hand lane of N 9th turn into the middle and left hand lanes of Eastbound Carpenter.

When I arrived at this intersection, to try it again, I waited until all eastbound traffic on Carpenter had passed me, then I pulled out. It was after rush hour for that street. Unfortunetaly, the left most lane of Carpenter had cars stacked up all the way to that limit line. So I had to get into the middle lane, then force my way into the left hand lane by turning my tires into a car beside me, waiting for it to pass, and making the car behind it wait for me to merge. I had my left hand turn blinkers on the entire time.

Most notably of all, not a motorcycle could be found anywhere near that intersection the whole time. Damn.