Hello all,

I am interested to hear from folks who ride the LA freeway system during the commute times. I've seen many folks that ride to the far left of the carpool lane and many that ride far right.

Although I have been riding for a long time I have NEVER done it here in LA/Orange County during rush hour using the carpool lane. I am a bit concerned about the cars and trucks that jump out over the double yellow to enter the carpool lane when they shouldn't be and I'm looking for feedback on which part of the lane is safer to occupy.

My inital thoughts are to occupy the left side of the lane where there is a double yellow and the right side when it is open for merging.

Thanks up front for the feedback...

Is there any safe spots on the LA freeway? At any time?

I rode a Kaw 650 when I was stationed in San Diego, and even that was scary enough. I never ventured into LA on anything less that 4 wheels. It's just NUTS!

I live in Orange County ( Garden Grove ) and when riding car pool lanes I find
myself riding in the center . Iv'e found that alot of debris from the freeway
ends up against the concrete barrier and left part of the lane and you have cars cutting in from the right . But I think in the end it"s where you feel comfortable riding .

Is there any safe spots on the LA freeway? At any time?


Uhhh... No. :)

I work in LA (about a 30 mile ride each way). I tend to avoid the carpool lanes when I'm on the bike.
Too many :censor n idiots out there that don't know what a double yellow line means. Also as midnitewolf said there are no shoulders beyond the carpool lane (most of the time). There's a few inches beyond the lane and then a concrete dividor and alot of debris ends up in that lane.

As a lot of members already know I live in Orange County, (San Juan Capistrano) and commute to work. Being in construction my commute varies from location to location and typically I commute into LA, "Somewhere." The past few week it was Marina Del Rey, this week and for the next couple of weeks it's Pomona. After this job it's on to La Jolla. Before all that it was the City of Orange and before that it was Studio City, and before that...

As you can tell I run the gambit of the Southern California's freeway system and I use the carpool (HOV) lane as much as possible. I believe the key is to judge and be familiar with the traffic patterns during your commute. There are difficult/hard spots like getting through LAX along the 405, the 101 through downtown LA, and just about any major freeway interchange like the Orange Crush, the 4 level downtown LA, East LA Interchange, the Kellogg Interchange, the 605 and the I-5, just to name a few.

I want to look down the road and see my horizon as much as possible. I use all the lane in the HOV depending on traffic to my right and the traffic in front of me. If the traffic is moving good I ride the middle of the lane. When the traffic is moving slowly in the HOV land and to my right I ride to the right of the HOV lane. This allows me to judge the traffic to my right better. First, I can see the driver of the car on my right. Almost all drivers before they make a lane change in either direction will move their head, body language will tell you a lot about what a persons intent is. Secondly, I can also see their left front tire. If that tire starts to move or drift my way I know to move with it. Lastly, I can look into the drivers side rear view mirror. I can't count the numerous times I have made eye contact with the operator of a car by looking into that mirror. You know they see you when you make eye contact. If the HOV lane is moving well but the traffic to my right is jammed up I tend to ride to the left of the HOV lane.

If my field of vision is block either by a full size van, large SUV, bobtail truck, bus, or any vehicle with a tinted back window I cannot see through, I will split lanes and pass when I feel safe to do so.

When I see cars grouping up and the break lights are coming on I tend to hold back and let everyone make their lane choice. This seems to be the time that drivers will suddenly decide to make a quick lane change without warning.

In summery, I believe the key is to know your route and the traffic patterns in your area. Keep your eyes on the horizon and the traffic around you and lastly, "KEEP YOUR HANDS ON THE HANDLE BARS!"

Btw, I seldom ride with one hand on the handle bars. Keep both hands on the handle bars, it will save your life! I've had a few encounters when having both hands on the handle bars saved me from going down. One dark morning I hit a black car bumper lying in the HOV lane. I didn't see it until it was too late and BOOM, my front wheel hit that bumper and the handle bars were going from left to right and right to left and then left to right and back to right to left in the blink of an eye and those handle bars were almost torn from my grip. But I'm here today to talk about it b/c I had both hands on the handle bars and kept control of the bike. Talk to a motorcycle cop sometime and they will tell you the same thing, keep your :censor'n hands on the handle bars, it will save your life!

Thanks for all the info guys. It's just a different beast here and I appreciate the input and advice.

Having done almost all of my riding in the LA area. Burbank to Santa Barbara at least three time a week. I have to say that I usually just took the ceter of the lane, mostly because of the poor runoff and debries all over the left. However since the carpool lane was usually just as packed and the rest of the road, I subjected myself to lane splitting.
I never had a problem doing it, and it got me where I needed to go. Anothe bene of the more "slender" sportsters!

Hello all,

I am interested to hear from folks who ride the LA freeway system during the commute times. I've seen many folks that ride to the far left of the carpool lane and many that ride far right.

Although I have been riding for a long time I have NEVER done it here in LA/Orange County during rush hour using the carpool lane. I am a bit concerned about the cars and trucks that jump out over the double yellow to enter the carpool lane when they shouldn't be and I'm looking for feedback on which part of the lane is safer to occupy.

My inital thoughts are to occupy the left side of the lane where there is a double yellow and the right side when it is open for merging.

Thanks up front for the feedback...

Having lived in SoCal, commuting from Chino to Anaheim, I would suggest that either just left of center, or left would be safest...I remember the illegal lane jumpers....its a very real problem you'll have to accept...

I live in Orange County ( Garden Grove ) and when riding car pool lanes I find
myself riding in the center . Iv'e found that alot of debris from the freeway
ends up against the concrete barrier and left part of the lane and you have cars cutting in from the right . But I think in the end it"s where you feel comfortable riding .

I too live in Garden Grove, CA. I ride a vivid black 1200 Custom. I'm off of Lampson Street near Euclid Blvd. LA Driving is nuts. Westminster is crazier! I'm in the Long Beach, San Pedro, Bellflower area often. If the weather sticks to light showers this Saturday, I'm heading over to CA Harley to have my Stage 1 and SE II's slapped on.