Lanecrossing/linecrossing

To define, lanecrossing is going into a lane designated for traffic moving in the opposite direction.

I'm a lanecrosser, I admit it, though I only cross the lines if a) I can see and b) it will actually make me faster.


I see a lot of people crossing lanes when it doesn't serve to add speed and I'm honestly offended if I see someone do it around a blind corner. What are your thoughts, errbody?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAhinOwT7UY

Watch from :55 to 1:25 if you want to see why you shouldn't lane cross without a clean sight line.

That's breaking rule #1.

Lonewolfjulez wrote:

That's breaking rule #1.

What if you can see through the curve?

That's how it starts, with corners you can see. Then the temptation to do the same in a blind corner comes upon you. Then your playing a game of chicken with a mother and three kids in the back.

Its just not a good idea. Work with the space given and you will be amazed on how you improve.

I don't lanecross on blind corners

one of my favorite quotes (I think about the dragon) was something like "This road has many amazing curves, why would you want to cut them off by going over the line". Enjoy the curves

Well said bixs.

what bixs said, I wil however use every inch of my lane and dropping a tire is perfectly legal way to get the car to rotate.

My opinion is, it's not a racetrack, and you will learn more about figuring out lines on the fly by staying in your lane. It's even funnier when people are in front of me cutting lines and they can't get away.

also I HIGHLY suggest not discussing this as EVERY forum I have been on it turns bad quickly

I never lanecross. I don't think any of the regulars I run with do either.

Positives: You get through a corner a little faster. But you're in the mountains, where nobody is timing you or competing, so who cares?

Negatives: You build a sloppy habit that can lead to at best cheating to keep with or outrun clean drivers, or at worst lead to hitting and killing someone on a motorcycle who blew a R hander and pushed out to the yellows.

The positive has no merit at all, and the negatives are that clean drivers will think you're sloppy, cheating and/or dangerous to run with.

very well put Chuck and Erv

All good stuff. If I cross the double yellows I made a mistake pure and simple. I drive in the mtns for the curves why straighten it out? I don't like straight roller coasters either.

If you are going to cross on a fast run I would suggest running at night so you can see the on coming headlights.

This discussion may get nasty on many forums, but i don't think you are going to see that here. So put away the popcorn.

I appreciate all of your thoughts!

To clarify, I don't just lanecross on a random whim. There's only, like, 100 curves in my entire state so I've learned that a few of them can be taken across the entire road. There's one set of curves slapped into the middle of a long, straight highway into the horizon where you can see through the whole set of curves across a farm field.
I don't really do it to try to go faster, it's just nice to have an opportunity to use a lot of road.

You're all right when you say that it takes more (and gives more) skill to stay in your lane and that's why I do it on 95% of curves I drive. I also know what it's like to easily pace someone who is blindly using half of the other lane.

I asked this here because I watched that video and I felt like you guys could keep your cool when discussing a controversial topic, which is why I like to read this forum.

Oh, and one of the banners on this site is a photo of someone who appears to be accidentally crossing the double yellow ;p

Lane-crossing is bad mmm'k children...

First thing I teach the kids in Pre-K.

^^that one? It's chopped. The car is flipped to appear going downhill. I noticed the double yellow crossing when I made it but thought the angle would benefit the picture anyways.

As stated, I agree with everyone about the lane changing opinions. Don't crossthe double yellows is our number 1 rule, mainly implemented for safety. Your scenario does seem legit where you are basically straight shooting a pair of "ess" curves, I tend to do the same thing going up Blood Mountain, but over a white line because the uphill section has 3 lanes (one down, 2 up).

I will dive in on the hairpin heading East on Wolf Pen though, as you can see in the compilation video. from this direction you can see down onto the straight away for oncoming traffic, and heading into it at speed and trying to maintain the outside lane runs a higher risk of error. Grocery Grip flipped on that corner a couple of years ago.

SPARTA wrote:

^^that one? It's chopped. The car is flipped to appear going downhill. I noticed the double yellow crossing when I made it but thought the angle would benefit the picture anyways.

Nah, I'm referring to one where the main car in the pic is an E46 taking a left-hand hairpin

SPARTA wrote:

As stated, I agree with everyone about the lane changing opinions. Don't crossthe double yellows is our number 1 rule, mainly implemented for safety. Your scenario does seem legit where you are basically straight shooting a pair of "ess" curves, I tend to do the same thing going up Blood Mountain, but over a white line because the uphill section has 3 lanes (one down, 2 up).

It's way different when it comes to mountains. Here in Michigan all the good roads are around lakes or inbetween farms. When I lived in Colorado I never crossed the lines unless I f***ed up badly, or one some of the downhill hairpins which had 'dotted' lines to indicate you were allowed to cut across if you had to.

He's right ... in that pic you can see Joey (I think) with a bit more than a tire over the yellows. He was in the wrong there 100%.

Here is how I see it. Yes, cutting the corners the fastest way down/up the mountain/canyon. So? It' much more fun and you push the car a lot harder if you stay in the lines. Lanes are a lot wider than you think, and there is room to take a better line and still stay in your lane.

A friend posted it clearly on IA a long time ago ... "Do you go to the mountains to drive through curves or straighten them out?"

It was Alex.

I like the Pilot's manta, which translates to this topic well

There are old pilots; there are bold pilots; however, there are no old bold pilots.

Related to this is, once you yourself have been hit by someone careless and have had the vehicle[in this case two] that you built up with bare hands and love dearly, lost due to the carelessness of others through no fault of your own [and at least for me, no person i loved was lost] it helps put this in perspective.

its all about the balance of risk vs reward

I will touch the inside yellow, but, like everyone else here, if I cross I messed up the corner.

SPARTA wrote:

It was Alex.

If you were talking about the quote from IA, it was actually Chris Ellingwood from back in like '01. No clue if he still posts there ... his UN was "BOTLFED" I think.

So, interesting read, but it is clear everyone agrees the only time to cross the double yellow is ON ACCIDENT. We all agree here on that topic. Now I have been thinking about it slightly differently for a while; while there is not the same risk involved, how does everyone feel about using both lanes in the double lane areas? Say headed up blood or any such rd? Crossing the whites isn't illegal but it does remove some of the curve. I notice some of you guys use only one lane while some use both as one big lane. Thoughts?

specVance wrote:

So, interesting read, but it is clear everyone agrees the only time to cross the double yellow is ON ACCIDENT. We all agree here on that topic. Now I have been thinking about it slightly differently for a while; while there is not the same risk involved, how does everyone feel about using both lanes in the double lane areas? Say headed up blood or any such rd? Crossing the whites isn't illegal but it does remove some of the curve. I notice some of you guys use only one lane while some use both as one big lane. Thoughts?

I think we should pick one and stick with it. I go either or and usually it depends on who I'm following. Sometimes I follow a person that uses both, sometimes only one, and sometimes mix and match depending on the road/curve.