Motorcycle Ticket Attorney Explains Lanesplitting

Lanesplitting Motorcycle

In every state, except California, a motorcyclist maneuver known as lanesplitting is not legal. Further, the guidelines for this maneuver have been posted for the first time on the California Highway Patrol’s (CHP) website.

Motorcyclists should review the guidelines as safety tips for sharing the road, according to Seargent Mark Pope, California’s statewide coordinator for CHP’s California Motorcyclists Safety Program. He went on to state that “the purpose (of posting the guidelines) is to improve public safety by promoting public awareness,” Pope stated to the press.

The need to increase attention and awareness comes just after a survey was administered by the California Office of Traffic Safety. The survey found that Thirty-seven percent of 733 drivers surveyed were unaware lane splitting was even legal anywhere, let alone in California. Seven percent had even admitted that they even made attempts on an occasion to prevent a motorcycle from maneuvering past their vehicle.

The “educational push,” as Sgt. Pope called it, is also an emotional response to preliminary numbers that show a 20 percent increase in motorcycle deaths from 2011 to 2012, he explained to the press.

One tip on the guidelines is for “competent enough” motorcycle operators should not travel faster than 10 miles per hour more than traffic. This was occurring at a reported 33.8 percent of those surveyed.

Most motorcycle riders, after reviewing the guidelines, agree that the guidelines are reasonable and in fact the go above every other state in the country. More specifically, Dave Finnerty, general manager of Victorville Harley, reviewed the guidelines and found what he read reasonable. “I think the biggest thing now is there’s an actual guideline. It’s not subjective,” he said. “They’re common sense (tips).” Finnerty said he believes riding between lanes is safer for motorcyclists such as himself, where riders can be more in control of their own safety. A major concern of many motorcycle riders is being rear-ended. “As motorcyclists, we’re a little more vulnerable,” he said. “Raising awareness is important.”

Opponents of the guideline point to the lack of safety while doing these maneuvers. Nathan Robinson, general manager at Barstow Motorcycle Center, believes that lane splitting is an unsafe manuever. “We’ve had customers who’ve had car doors opened on them,” he said. Even within pronounced safety guidelines, he said, “people will push the envelope.”

Law enforcement is on the side of Finnerty and they hope that Robinson is wrong. For many years, the CHP website has noted lane splitting was legal when done in a safe and prudent manner by experienced motorcycle riders, but the problem was “no effort had been made before to define safe and prudent,” Pope said.

The guidelines, developed with traffic safety stakeholders, motorcycle safety experts and other law enforcement, can also be found on the CA OTS website. In May of this year, Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month will bring an effort to reinforce these CHP guidelines, as explained by Pope.

Drive safe out there and review these CHP Lanesplitting guidelines before you hit the road.