2ND LT. JOSEPH CRINCOLI
G3, Joint Force Headquarters – New Jersey
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey

I live in a grossly overpopulated suburb of New York City known to many as the sixth borough. Traffic congestion and patterns are reportedly some of the worst in the nation. But that doesn’t stop motorcyclists from hitting the asphalt when there is any chance of sunshine.

I’ve ridden motorcycles in several different states, including Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont, and all are pretty rider friendly. The laws that govern riders in those states are based upon traffic and the types of roadways available for riding. While in North Carolina, however, I witnessed something that blew my mind.

I was riding with a group of friends when another motorcyclist came through our staggered formation and literally weaved between adjacent cars over the broken white lines separating the lanes on a highway. My initial reaction was, “What a dumb (insert your favorite expletive here).” It was not until we stopped miles down the road that someone explained to me that maneuver was called lane splitting, which is when a motorcyclist rides between lanes of slower moving or stopped traffic.

Fast-forward a few riding seasons and I was driving my car on a famously congested roadway in northern New Jersey called Highway 1/9. I noticed a group of bikers in my rearview mirror approaching. I had to be traveling 60 mph, which means they were doing at least 80-90 mph. Every time I looked back they were closer and closer and not slowing down. Just before I thought they were going to slam into me, they spliced between my car and the truck adjacent to me. “Are they crazy?” I thought to myself. “That might work in North Carolina or Pennsylvania, but certainly not on this highway with all this traffic.”

Over the next couple of weeks, I saw more and more riders lane splitting through traffic. It all culminated on one fateful afternoon. Again, I was on one of New Jersey’s busiest highways. My wife and I were on our way to my mother-in-law’s house, traveling about 60 mph on a road riddled with potholes, traffic, stoplights and frequent accidents, when some riders approached from behind. That was their first mistake. The group, all on sport bikes, was doing about 100 mph. Mistake number two. Ahead were cars and trucks as far as the eye could see, but that did not slow them down in the slightest. Mistake number three.

As I began to slow down for the traffic, the riders were already on my bumper. They spliced through the lanes just as a car ahead of us started to change lanes. Everything seemed to slow down. One of the riders clipped the rear quarter panel of the merging vehicle and went airborne, landing in the busy intersection. His motorcycle was like a pinball, bouncing off the next dozen cars as it slid down the road before coming to a rest behind a semi.

The only reason this kid survived was because of the one New Jersey state law he actually obeyed — he was wearing a helmet. When he hit the ground, the back of his helmet struck the pavement as he landed on his back. It looked as if he pulled his arms and legs in like a turtle as he bounced off the median, which kept him from rocketing into oncoming traffic. He must have traveled like that for 20 car lengths before skidding to a stop.

Police and ambulances were on the scene in about 10 minutes, which is actually a pretty good response time due to the excessive traffic. As I sat there in shock from what I just witnessed, my loving wife looked at me and said, “You’re selling your bike.” Needless to say, I lost a bike that day and she got new pairs of shoes. Isn’t marriage grand?


FYI

In 2016, California became the first state to officially give riders the green light to lane split. While lane splitting is currently illegal outside of California, some states don’t enforce it as strictly as others. Lawmakers in some states have even shown interest in passing legislation to allow it.

If you are a rider, or if you have friends or relatives that ride motorcycles, share this with them. Remind them to follow these guidelines:

• Travel no more than 10 mph faster than the vehicles with which they’re lane splitting.

• Merge back in with the traffic when they reach 30 to 35 mph.

• Never exceed the speed limit.

• Lane splitting between lanes one and two is preferred (lane one being the fast or inside lane)

• Stay, more or less, in one lane or the other.

• Ride carefully to not cause damage to other vehicles.