Well I’m saying that as a rider who rode nearly every day for 10 years in SoCal, the majority of *weekday* work commuters do know and expect motorcycles to be splitting lanes between the carpool and #1 lane. It is routine to see multiple cars edge slightly to the left of the carpool lane to make additional room as a rider is approaching, and this usually dominoes.
Also, commuters on bikes are a lot more common in LA than other places I’ve been because it’s all-season riding. So it was not uncommon to be riding in a train of legit 3-5 bikes who just happen to be on the same freeway. Bikes are much more a part of freeway traffic in LA. It is a very different vibe than every other place I’ve been. The culture is different.

Yes there are the occasional bad drivers or even rage drivers (I’ve had both experiences and they get your heart rate up), but that can happen in anything in life. Even driving your car is a risk that most Americans blindly accept (40k die in wrecks a year I believe).

And for people who think lane filtering is just dangerous or reckless; there are way to lane filter. Ideally (per highway patrol guidance) you only go 5-15mph faster than the flow of traffic. This means that when you see a potential for a car changing lanes, you slow down so you don’t zip through their blind spot right when they’re turning. If there are no spots available for a car to change lanes, you can safely ride faster. Cars don’t often just randomly switch lanes directly into another a car so you can generally pretty much count yourself safe if you are between two cars.

This is very accurate. Weekday drivers kind of know the drill and it’s easy to expect what they’re gonna do. The weekend/holiday drivers are not as predictable and on those days I would filter at a slower speed.