A speeding motorcyclist on I-81 lane split between a driver in a Toyota Sienna and a semi towing a heavy, 16-foot load.
Escort driver and Redditor /u/SquirrelInATux shared head-shaking dashcam footage to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit from I-81 in Mechanicsburg, PA showing a speeding motorcyclist taking an unnecessary risk by lane splitting between a driver in a Toyota Sienna van attempting to overtake a semi towing an oversized, 16-foot wide load.
Check out his dashcam footage below.
[OC] Speeding lane splitting motorcycle passes 16’ wide load in exit lane while approaching heavy merge area
byu/SquirrelInATux inIdiotsInCars
The incident happened on I-81 just before Exit 57 (exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As /u/SquirrelInATux’s dashcam footage shows, he and another driver in an escort vehicle are assisting a driver in the semi in front of them in towing a heavy and wide oversized load measuring 16 feet across.
“Approaching a heavy merge area, we were holding both lanes to ensure the load does not strike traffic entering from the on-ramp.”
As they approach Exit 57, a driver in a Toyota Sienna creeps up alongside the semi-driver with a trailer, hesitant to pass.
Suddenly, a speeding motorcyclist cuts in front of /u/SquirrelInATux and lane splits between the Sienna and the oversized trailer.
“This motorcycle caught me completely off guard and was much closer than it seemed. Had I drifted over a few inches I would have hit him, literally left me speechless for a second.”
“Holy s*** Motorcycle lane split. Oh my God, he almost hit me,” /u/SquirrelInATux exclaims on the radio.
“That’s a crazy sumb****,” the semi-truck driver responds.
The video ends with the rear POV of the motorcyclist approaching and passing.
“These are the guys that wake up in the hospital saying I don’t know what happened,” /u/misanthropic47 commented.
Many commenters pointed out how, while initially it seemed reckless, what that motorcyclist did seemed logical.
“Devil’s advocate: I ride, and I know how squirrely people get around vehicles that take up 2 lanes. If I see an opportunity to get around it with a reasonable margin of safety, I’m taking it, legal or not,” /u/app-ate-momo commented.
“I honestly don’t think this looks that terrible. he could see down that lane to what was ahead before he started because it was an exit lane, so no one could be there,” /u/OverlappingChatter added.
Regardless, taking into account how OP saw it, taking risks around working vehicles with slim margins for error is unnecessary.
Anything can happen and the predictable can suddenly turn unpredictable at the drop of a hat.
The consensus around drivers who tow heavy loads like this is, if you’re going to pass, do so.
The way to do it, though, is predictably.
Coming up on a driver towing a heavy load way too fast like this is arguably just as bad as taking too long to pass in the first place.
