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Concern for Motorcycles with Lane Minder on


Ben Bruce
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I have a real conceI have a real concern when using the lane minder feature when Motorcycles are splitting lanes.  My practice is to move to the left when I see them approaching from behind.  On several occasions it has happened that as I move to the left the lane minder sees a guard rail or some obstacle and tries to steer me back to the right at the same time as a Motorcycle is passing me while spitting lanes.  I am afraid that one of these days a Ford Fusion is going to take out a motorcyclist because of this “feature”.

I have warned all my friends that ride, to be cautious around Fusions as the car is a little “quirky” some times and may move towards them as they spilt lanes.

 

Ben

 

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Its not so much "leaving your lane" to allow a cyclist to pass but more like giving them more room.  As long as lane splitting is legal here in CA you are going to see cyclists taking advantage, especially in slow, stop-n-go traffic.  I would imagine other manufacturer's "lane keep" equivalent will do the same or similar to keep you in the lane.  Honestly though, mine has only aggressively corrected my steering when I was purposely showing someone how the system works and I had be near to crossing the lane markers to get it to auto correct my steering.  There is a setting for the system you can adjust to make it less aggressive or (IIRC) even turn off the auto corrective action if you are overly worried about it...

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Its not so much "leaving your lane" to allow a cyclist to pass but more like giving them more room.  As long as lane splitting is legal here in CA you are going to see cyclists taking advantage, especially in slow, stop-n-go traffic.  I would imagine other manufacturer's "lane keep" equivalent will do the same or similar to keep you in the lane.  Honestly though, mine has only aggressively corrected my steering when I was purposely showing someone how the system works and I had be near to crossing the lane markers to get it to auto correct my steering.  There is a setting for the system you can adjust to make it less aggressive or (IIRC) even turn off the auto corrective action if you are overly worried about it...

In stop & go traffic it's understandable. But the OP said that his LKA system tried to steer him back into his lane. LKA is only active at 40+ MPH. If motorcycles are driving between the cars at 40+ MPH that is not legal in MN. Perhaps other states allow it, but I'd be surprised.

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In stop & go traffic it's understandable. But the OP said that his LKA system tried to steer him back into his lane. LKA is only active at 40+ MPH. If motorcycles are driving between the cars at 40+ MPH that is not legal in MN. Perhaps other states allow it, but I'd be surprised.

Technically it isn't legal here in CA either, but they do it and never get stopped. The lane sharing was supposed to be for stop and go conditions.

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In California, motorcyclist split lane at all speeds.  Legal or not.  I figure it is better to give them room to avoid the hassle of dealing with a crash.  It is not that I leave the lane it is just that I give them more room to pass.  I believe the LKA is seeing the line that I am close to and tries to steer me away from it and back into the motorcycle that it does not see.

 

It has only caught me by surprise a couple of times but feels like it could cause an accident someday.

 

I know I can turn it off or adjust its sensitivity.  

 

My intent was to help others to be aware of a potential situation and maybe Ford will read this and offer an update in the future?

 

Ben

Edited by Ben Bruce
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Actually lane splitting IS legal here in CA with the caveat that you are not supposed to exceed surrounding traffic by more than 10mph, dangerous but it is legal and both private and LEO's do it here in SoCal all the time.  I watch for them but occasionally, you will see a cyclist "split" and inside lane (not the far left) and that's just not very smart behavior (IMO) anyway.  I have never heard of any limit for lane splitting (here in CA) other than you can't exceed the posted speed limit...

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  • 1 month later...

adding more code for something that is illegal, is a waste of time and money.  If a bike wants to share a lane with car..."enter at your own risk" is my view

 

But its NOT ILLEGAL in some places, e.g. California. That's where probably 80% of the Energi users are from, thus very prevalent to the conversation.

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A little off topic, but I thought of this thread the other day when reading the results of a joint CHP/DMV study of accident/injury/fatality rates for motorcyclists who lane split vs those who do not.  SURPRISE...the highest fatality rates (by a significant amount) were those motorcyclists who were NOT lane splitting and were rear ended in stop and go traffic by unobservant motorists!  Pretty much every other category of accident they studied, reported a modest to significant decrease in injury to the cyclists who lane split as well.  I must admit I didn't expect these findings. 

 

Also, they did projections on if all cyclists (in other states as well) used lane-splitting it would decrease the traffic congestion by a significant (projected) amount.  I know as a motorist it's hard to understand and appears to be foolhardy behavior (lane splitting) but it appears it's actually safer for cyclists in congested traffic....I'll see if I can recall where I read this and find the link but you can probably easily find it by Googling Calif DMV/CHP Lane splitting study..

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But its NOT ILLEGAL in some places, e.g. California. That's where probably 80% of the Energi users are from, thus very prevalent to the conversation.

 

But its NOT LEGAL in 100% California, http://www.chp.ca.gov/programs/lanesplitguide.html

 

We can go on, but this should be in the lounge area, so if you want to debate about hardware on our car that you think should change because of bikes sharing the lane with you..it should be there

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  • 6 months later...

A little off topic, but I thought of this thread the other day when reading the results of a joint CHP/DMV study of accident/injury/fatality rates for motorcyclists who lane split vs those who do not.  SURPRISE...the highest fatality rates (by a significant amount) were those motorcyclists who were NOT lane splitting and were rear ended in stop and go traffic by unobservant motorists!  Pretty much every other category of accident they studied, reported a modest to significant decrease in injury to the cyclists who lane split as well.  I must admit I didn't expect these findings. 

 

Also, they did projections on if all cyclists (in other states as well) used lane-splitting it would decrease the traffic congestion by a significant (projected) amount.  I know as a motorist it's hard to understand and appears to be foolhardy behavior (lane splitting) but it appears it's actually safer for cyclists in congested traffic....I'll see if I can recall where I read this and find the link but you can probably easily find it by Googling Calif DMV/CHP Lane splitting study..

Agree 100% and have been riding and lane-splitting in CA for 20 years. When he first started riding, a friend of mine was rear-ended at a red light - sitting behind a car. He was a new rider and was not comfortable lane-splitting. He escaped unharmed - but his bike was totaled. He now rides between traffic - right up to the light. Lane-splitting on the CA freeways is a no-brainer due to traffic and heat.

Edited by Bud
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If you heard from the media, there have been accidents from self driving cars..so we're still screwed ;)

 

 I did buy a dash cam and thinking of buying one for the rear so no matter what, I'm good. After all, the car has a "black box" and with a dash cam..its all good. Havent had an accident yet, mostly because 1) I take care of my car, 2) I drive and obey the laws and 3) I dont get distracted

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Those self driving cars that had the accidents were all the fault of the other driver - not due to the self-driver crashing in to something.

 

You may have not had any accidents, and you pay attention, but that isn't going to help you if the person behind you is distracted.  ;)

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Those self driving cars that had the accidents were all the fault of the other driver - not due to the self-driver crashing in to something.

 

You may have not had any accidents, and you pay attention, but that isn't going to help you if the person behind you is distracted.  ;)

Well....thats not true..just recently, it was 2 self driving cars ;) at least thats what the media said...

 

True, thats why I'm thinking of a rear cam...people just dont stop all the time..

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Well....thats not true..just recently, it was 2 self driving cars ;) at least thats what the media said...

 

True, thats why I'm thinking of a rear cam...people just dont stop all the time..

 

Got a link to that article?  I haven't seen anything about it and the news feed on my phone usually brings up auto tech.  Everything I've seen is a human crashing in to a computer car. :)

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  • 1 month later...

Last week I was in the Bay Area for work & I got to experience motorcycles lane splitting. It's not so bad when cars are moving at 15-20 MPH. It was rather nerve-wracking when traffic is moving 65-70 MPH & motorcycles are lane splitting going 80+ MPH. That seems extremely dangerous. I also observed motorcycles lane-splitting on regular streets while driving around the San Jose area.

 

One thing I definitely noticed was the level of helmet use. I don't recall seeing a single motorcycle rider in the Bay Area who wasn't wearing a helmet. In MN I'd estimate that only about 1/3 of motorcycle riders I see wear a helmet.

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