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Lane sharing in New Zealand


Lane sharing for the right reasons saves everyone time and reduces traffic congestion.

The alternative to lane sharing is every motorcycle consuming 1.5x car lengths of traffic queue space.


Motorcycles are at risk from in-attentive vehicle drivers causing rear-end accidents. 


When to look at lane sharing

If there is only a few cars at the front of the queue at any time at an intersection it is unlikely lane sharing on a motorcycle will save you any time over your journey.


But if the traffic is backed up substantially then lane sharing provides good time savings even at 10Kph vs stationary traffic queues.

Lane sharing has three main benefits. 

1. Reduce congestion.

2. Motorcycle rider safety.

3. Motorcycle cooling as some motorcycles are air-cooled.


Fact:

Lane sharing is not exclusive to motorcycles but with the road rule of not obstructing other road users when performing lane sharing tasks applied you will find two wheeled vehicles are much slimmer than a delivery van so generally lane sharing is associated with motorcycle use.

Lane sharing road rules (New Zealand)

Basically if we take a single lane of traffic (regardless of multi lane or single lane direction of traffic) there are moments when any vehicle can be passing on the left or right of any other vehicle.


The lane is the area typically marked by solid white line (road side) and a dashed center line between lanes. Bicycle lanes clearly marked are not part of the lane area for motor vehicle use so using cycle lanes as extra lane area is illegal unless you are crossing over the area to enter a side street or premise with your turn signal showing.


Overtaking on the left of vehicles in the same lane.

If any vehicle has a right turn signal showing (intention on turning right), that vehicle may be stationary or moving only then can another vehicle pass on the left of the that vehicle in the same lane and does not cause obstruction to other road users and can be done so safely.


If any vehicle is stationary in a lane, another vehicle may overtake on the left of that vehicle in the same lane and does not cause obstruction to other road users and can be done so safely.


It is illegal to overtake another vehicle on the left side in the same lane if that vehicle is moving and not indicating right.


Overtaking on the right of vehicles in the same lane.

If any vehicle is stationary or moving, another vehicle may pass on the right side of that vehicle in the same lane and does not cause obstruction to other road users and can be done so safely.


Stopping on pedestrian crossings.

It is an illegal manoeuvre to stop on a pedestrian crossing.


Speed while performing lane sharing activities

A general advisory is not to be progressing more than 15kph faster than the traffic you are lane sharing with.

The road code states you may lane share up the posted speed limit but anything over 30kph is not going to shorten your journey time significantly and adds additional risks when lane sharing at faster speeds. You are likely to gain the attention of police when lane sharing with aggression or poor road manners regardless of speed limits. Infringement notices for poor vehicle usage that may imposing or inconvenience other road users (ie dangerous use of a vehicle) have been issued.


Don’t forget, many vehicles have dash cams installed so video evidence is not hard to come by these days! 

We like the benefit of lane sharing, but we want to keep that ability and being respectful to other road users will help keep lane sharing usage available. 

Examples

Lane sharing use case examples.

Note: We generally don’t think about lane sharing when on single lane traffic around suburbs and low traffic areas but we actually do lane share every time a vehicle needs leave your lane to a side road or vehicles parallel parking etc, you check mirrors and pass vehicles on the left or right depending on the situation called for.  Similar examples on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7oAY5JYYaM

Overtaking on the left side of stationary traffic

The vehicles are not signalling right but are stationary, you may over take on the left of vehicles at this time in the same lane.


See our road positioning here, as our motorcycle wheels are in the right lane we are lane sharing right lane out of two (2) lanes so we are overtaking on the left of vehicles in the same lane.


The vehicles in the other lane is traffic we are not sharing a lane with at this moment.

Overtaking on the left side of moving traffic without showing right signal

The vehicles are not signalling right and moving forward, this is an illegal manoeuvre while lane sharing. 


See our road positioning here, as our motorcycle wheels are in the right lane we are lane sharing right lane out of two (2) lanes so we are overtaking on the left of vehicles in the same lane.


Overtaking on the right side of moving traffic

Vehicles moving forward or stationary, you may over take on the right of vehicles at this time in the same lane.


See our road positioning here, as our motorcycle wheels are in the left lane we are lane sharing left lane out of two (2) lanes so we are overtaking on the right of vehicles in the same lane.

Pedestrian crossings and general stopping at front of queues

Do not stop on a pedestrian crossing, (shown with a red X)


If there is room before the pedestrian crossing marked and in front of the queued traffic you can stop here (shown with green tick) otherwise stagger the vehicles so you are better seen while sharing a lane. 


If more than one motorcycle has progressed to the front of the traffic queue and there is no room to share up front, then revert to staggering other vehicles till lane merge allowed.


If you stall or drop a motorcycle after getting to the front of the traffic queue, you have then inconvenienced the flow of traffic. (Leave your motorcycle in first gear, make a quicker exit!)

Watch for’s and what if’s

Traffic light change to green before you reach the front?

Example is crawling traffic, using left lane, over take on the right of the vehicles if safe to do so. (Remember overtaking on the left of a moving vehicle not showing a right signal is a illegal manoeuvre) 


It is safer to stagger between other vehicles and remain staggered until free space allows you to merge with traffic or keep lane sharing if safe to do so.


Red arrows show where it is safest to stop or slow while lane sharing, the gaps between vehicles allow the motorcycle to be seen easily.

This allows vehicles in front of you to see your head light in side view mirrors and vehicles behind can see you clearly.


If there is a queue of motorcycles when commuting, this is also the right time to stagger the vehicles around you instead of creating end-to-end motorcycle queue, someone may stall or make an error.

Swapping lanes?
There is no issue regularly swapping lanes but best to remain near the center line separating the lanes.


If you cross lanes “Zig Zagging” you are invisible to most other vehicles except for the few seconds when you cross the center line.


It is actually annoying to other road users, and more likely you will end up being hit by a vehicle that won’t see the motorcyclist due to poor road positioning caused by zig-zagging or swinging between lanes.


If you remain in the position either just left or right of the lane center line where multiple lanes are in use, you are visible to all other vehicles nearly 100% of the time.

Lane positioning?
The same common sense applies when going in a straight line as it is for lane changing when on the road.


Follow the 2-4 second rule if following vehicles so you have room to brake and move your motorcycle when needed. Following the 2+ second rule gives you time as the motorcycle rider for head checks and mirror checks - If you are too close to the vehicle in front, you won’t have any free time to check and scan vehicles around you as you will be target fixated on the vehicle directly in front.


Don’t sit on the left road shoulder like cyclist does or be too close to  traffic islands or opposing traffic, this is where you can be trapped with no exit path. 


This highlights good reasons not to purposely lane share on single lanes with moving vehicles as they are not expecting a motorcycle on any side of their vehicle and the motorcycle will end up being trapped or clipping a vehicle or road object like a curb or traffic island. Just because you “can” doesn’t mean you should as it will most likely not be able to be done in a safe manner on single lanes.


Other vehicles may not be so observant of their own vehicle positioning or could be aggressive towards other road users and if you do not control your portion of the lane with good lane positioning  you may end up in an awkward or dangerous situation.


So by positioning in the middle of single lanes or closer to the center line of on multi-lane roads you can been seen sooner by other vehicles or evade a situation by being ready to lane share as needed.


Accidents do happen in traffic so by keeping free space in front and correct ready to lane share positioning, you have a much better chance to not be involved in a traffic incident while riding a motorcycle.

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