Last edited Wed Dec 8, 2021, 12:50 PM - Edit history (5)
... and rode almost every day. Without lane-splitting, I'd still be stuck in traffic. For a while, I had a Yamaha TDR-250 (two-stroke twin), which made me feel like I was splitting the lanes with a chainsaw. 
Lane-splitting is perfectly legal and very common there. In fact, at traffic signals there's a box painted on the road surface just for scooters and motorcycles, so that they can filter through the stopped traffic and get to the head of the line.
The difference, though, is that Japanese car drivers are used to a high volume of two-wheeled traffic around them at all times. They know you're there, and they generally act accordingly.
My lane-splitting experience is that it's safest when the surrounding traffic is stopped or moving smoothly. The stop-and-go shit is when you have to worry about some jackass attempting an un-signaled lane change right in front of you.
All that said, I'm not sure I'd do it in the US. Not long after I got back from Japan, I had a car driver go apeshit and try to chase me down after I snuck around him at a stoplight. I unlearned that habit fast.
EDIT TO ADD: Didn't realize this was a zombie thread. Given how high it was on the post list, I guess there isn't much activity in this group. Anybody out there?
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