California Highway Patrol Releases Endorsed Lane Splitting Guidelines CHP goes on record about lane filtering by motorcyclists.

February 8, 2013 By Don Canet 63 Comments

Lane Splitting

I’ve lived in California my entire life and have spent the past three decades riding streetbikes. I’m fortunate to enjoy one of the greatest liberties a motorcyclist will ever experience: The freedom of movement when traffic has slowed to a crawl or is stopped. I am a lane-splitter.

California is currently the only state in the nation that allows lane splitting, and it has done this by not specifically prohibiting it in the vehicle code. Done responsibly, lane splitting is a safe and effective way to relieve traffic congestion and get where you’re going faster.

I also must confess that I’ve never had a clear and concise understanding of how lane splitting is defined by the authorities, mostly because it was never officially defined. Ask 10 different traffic officers and you’ve been likely to get as many varying answers.

But, in an effort to raise driver awareness and clear the air for motorcyclists, Lane Splitting General Guidelines have been posted on the California Highway Patrol website.

Several good tips and rules of thumb are offered, but it remains gray as to hard and fast legal limits pertaining to lane splitting. Just as I’ve assumed in the past, it really comes down to an officer’s perception of whether your maneuvering through traffic appears reckless. It’s a positive step by the state to take this action to raise awareness and define some of the rules of engagement.

Should lane splitting be legal in all states? If you live outside of California, would you lane split if it were legal in your state?

Filed Under: Chase Truck Tagged With: motorcycle culture, motorcycle lifestyle, safety

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1349484416 Doc Victor Moss

Absolutely should be legal, and yes, I would do it when appropriate. As an MSF Instructor, the subject comes up a lot because of our proximity to CA. There are times to do it and times not to, depending on circumstances. But keeping a bike from overheating is important enough to me to advocate for it.

IRideNaked

Keeping the bike from overheating is hardly a problem anymore (fuel injectors). My favorite reason to give naysayers is you avoid getting rear ended by an inattentive cager. And I just feel safer when splitting.

jfc1

vs getting cut off by the same
brian

Actually, here in Florida my Ducati ST4 and even my Piaggio scooter (500cc’s, one lung, liquid cooled & fuel injected) overheat or at least run hot under 40 mph. The local Did dealer informed me that riding the shoulder is legal if you are on a liquid cooled bike.

grholschhower

I’ve been filtering since 1975 and am still here to talk about it! It can be done safely if you use common sense. Keep your speed to a level where you can react to drivers that make quick lane changes at slow speeds…those are the ones that will get you. Also, riding the yellow line the separates the carpool from the fast lanes is illegal and stupid, yet I see riders doing this all the time.
oldironnow

Ah. The mix is settling up :
“Be Reasonable, be Responsible, be Respectful, be aware of all Roadway and traffic conditions.
- Be Reasonable means not more than 10 MPH faster than traffic flow and not over 39 MPH.”

Nice to know – that’s a little bit more then the rate and differential I feel comfortable splitting.

“Riders should not weave back and forth between lanes or ride on top of the line.”

Seems impossible not to do one or the other. Ticket, opportunity?

Also advises the cagers:
…3) Intentionally blocking or impeding a motorcyclist in a way that could cause harm to the rider is illegal (CVC 22400).
4) Opening a vehicle door to impede a motorcycle is illegal (CVC 22517).”

Nice.

Blue-by-U

Then lane splitting away from a stop tween two drag racing Vettes; would be downed on; I guess.

Blue-by- U

ie: frowned on, heh,heh.

jakewtfjake

It would reduce congestion, encourage the use of a way more efficient vehicle (space fuel and parking). I’m all for it. Too many 1 person gigantic suvs wasting gas space and parking out there and running up the fuel and Insurance cost for everyone. I’d ride to work daily here in philly if it were legal.. im sure many others would follow and we’d save more gas than any cafe regulation could even come close to for cagers.
allworld

I would say yes. I
would go further and permit motorcycles to move in front of all other vehicles
stopped at traffic lights. Expressway
road marking should be designed to heighten the awareness of lane splitting and
there should be an area reserved for motorcycles at the front of all
intersections controlled by traffic lights.
John Burns, Feature ed.

Or stated another way, the other 49 states are the only places in the world that don’t allow lane-splitting, which is the common-sense most efficient way for cars and motorcycles and scooters to coexist everywhere else. We lead the world in dumb traffic laws.

Simon Conde

Canada, well British Columbia at least, does not allow lane splitting either much to my disapproval.
Mixie

John,

Could you get an official position from the AMA on lane splitting? It might be the first step towards their lobbyists to start pushing for chances in the laws (i.e. remove from the books lane splitting prohibition)

AMA might listen to you more than us lowly ride-to-workers…

http://www.facebook.com/ratz.asstime Ratz Asstime

Lane-splitting and filtering are obvious congestion solutions for our overcrowded freeways and highways. They are also as equally important as a safety option for two-wheel motorcycles. Anyone arguing otherwise is either an incompetent motorcyclist or a clueless cager.
http://www.facebook.com/glenn.dorzok Glenn Dorzok

bummer. first step to outlawing it here too. see, CHP make recomendations and then the first motorcyclist that dies after “following” these recomendations opens the door for some law-firm to sue on behalf of ALL motorcyclists. after that, banhammer drops.
jfc1

“Done responsibly, lane splitting is a safe and effective way to relieve traffic congestion…”

by a miniscule amount, since you’re riding a motorcycle and are not the cause of traffic congestion in the first place

“and get where you’re going faster.”"

sure, as long as you don’t get hit or run into anything while doing it.

Keeping in mind of course that you can get run into from behind by an inattentive driver just as you can get bumped into from the side or even blocked on purpose.

jfc1

I used to ride my bike to work, and my bike is not small either, an old FJ1200

my lane-splitting varied widely depending on how far I was from work and how much time I had to get there, but in no case did I ever find myself riding more than 5 mph faster than the traffic that I was splitting. I was just happy to move vs standing still, but do not ever forget that these are cars and trucks you’re maneuvering around, sometimes even buses, and often bikes come whizzing through there as well. The faster you go relative to them, the more damage when one takes you out.

jfc1

in any case, whatever they are doing in the associated image, riding between a truck and a van at highway speeds WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU EVER DO SOMETHING SO STUPID?

I swear, the more that I see of Californians the more that I am sure there is some serious prion intake going on, on the West Coast.

http://www.facebook.com/glenn.dorzok Glenn Dorzok

no need to do it at highway speed. if traffic is flowing anywhere near the speed limit and you’re splitting lanes then you’re lame.
http://www.cycleworld.com/ Matthew Miles

Ah, that photo brings back some good memories! We were in Los Angeles for the “Six in the City” middleweight naked-bike comparison. Jeff Allen took the shot on Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu. The blurred truck and van give the impression of high speed, but, really, traffic was all but stopped. Little to no risk involved, and that’s coming from Captain Safety!

jfc1

well the speedo I can see says what, 25MPH? I didn’t see that before.

oldironnow

That comment would make me think you have not ridden on the street. Sorry if that’s harsh. There’s often so much room in the “motorcycle lane” – room enough to fit a Honda car ‘tween two other Honda cars. Truck and van – it’s almost always not a problem.

jfc1

“not a problem” is relative.
jfc1

“That comment would make me think you have not ridden on the street. Sorry if that’s harsh.”

and honestly I’m going to do you a favor and pretend that I didn’t see that.

oldironnow

You shouted it was stupid. Open your eyes. It is not.

jfc1

tell you what, you find someone else who thinks that it was not stupid and get back to me. In the meantime I’ll carry on with my initial opinion of it.
Stuki

It’s not stupid. Look at the bike speedo; barely moving. Look at the amount of space between the truck and van. You could fit a trike in between them. Being stuck in traffic, sucking exhaust fumes for no reason but unfounded fear, is stupid. But to each his own.
jfc1

I don’t have a problem with lanesplitting except for the fact that people change lanes suddenly and you can’t expect everyone to see you before they change. It’s the same problem with people opening doors in bikelanes. A small highly-mobile vehicle darting around in traffic is unsafe.

exact same argument against doing 85 in freeway traffic by constantly switching lanes

ride enough and watch enough people begin a lane-change, see someone else there or hear a horn and swerve back into their own lanes and then roll their car
and you’ll see what I mean. It’s not all about the motorcyclist. Some of what they do is just unsafe given other traffic.

The Reg

Yes…I agree….Lane Slitting should only be allowed for whne cars have stopped or doing less than say 10 – 15 mph (or say 15 – 25 Km/h.

Lane splitting at speed is dangerous and these guys pictured are really looking for a place to die!

Cheers,

Paul.

PJM361

If you look closely at the picture you can see the speedometer is indicating 25MPH

MuleHeadJoe

Your statements indicates to me that you are pedantic and annoying. The jab at California indicates a stereotypical red-state mindset … can’t stand to see anybody else having fun or freedoms that you personally don’t –or aren’t allowed to– enjoy. Get off your high-horse. There’s NOTHING inherently >more< dangerous with lane-splitting than in regular riding in traffic. The dangers are the same — innattentive or stupid cagers, unobserved road hazards, etc. etc. Lane splitting makes travelling on a motorcycle in heavy traffic conditions substantially more efficient. If more bikers split lanes, there'd be reduced congestion, reduced fuel consumption, reduced emmisions, and reduced stress due to unproductive time wasted sitting in traffic jams by people simply trying to get to or from work. All these efficiencies, once fully understood by the general populace, would result in a positive feedback loop … knowing about the benefits of motorcycling could result in more people riding motorcycles for commuting purposes, causing increased motorcycle sales which along with the generally enhanced personal productivity and reduced wastage as already indicated would boost the economy overall resulting in greater gerneralized benefit for everybody, cagers and bikers alike.

jfc1

“our statements indicates to me that you are pedantic and annoying.”

…and your reply exposes you as a Class A hypocrite.
jfc1

I’m sorry, did I ask you to comment in such a manner, or are you just working on your Doctorate in Hypocrisy?
jfc1

“The jab at California indicates a stereotypical red-state mindset …
can’t stand to see anybody else having fun or freedoms that you
personally don’t –or aren’t allowed to– enjoy. Get off your
high-horse.”

wow, you eagerly stereotype me (or is it pigeonhole, I can’t tell which you’re doing here), put words in my mouth, and then tell ME to get off my high horse?

I can’t imagine what you consider to be a “high-horse” a flatworm?

How often do people take you seriously enough to go tell you to go stick your head up your butt and leave them alone?

Jeffrey

Where I live we split all day every day. Yes it is wonderful. But when does the CHP start making the laws and saying what is allowed and what is not ?

http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Raines/100003568489595 Dave Raines

They don’t. Read the article again. They are suggested guidelines, not laws.
PJM361

They are giving you the guidelines as to what they consider reckless and then it would be up to the judge

http://www.facebook.com/jimmy.clinton.714 Jimmy Clinton

It wouldn’t work in Colorado. To many egos in cars and texting and driving, not worth our lives.

Stuki

Don’t know much about Denver traffic, but when cars stand still (like in LA most of the time), they stand still. Whether their drivers aew texting, getting blown, beating up their wives or whatever; they’re standing still! You could perfectly safely push your kids in a stroller between them, and they still couldn’t hurt you. Even if they for some reason really would want to.

Have you ever driven, or ridden, in Italy? Traffic there is best described as a 24hr everything goes horn-honking grand prix. Ferrari vs Fiat permanently locked in a death race. And people still filter. On scooters, ever. And, they still don’t have a habit of dieing in undue numbers.

By far the person best positioned to decide whether splitting lanes in a given situation is safe or not, is the rider contemplating whether to do it. It’s his life on the line. He can see the traffic situation in front of him. Pretending some yahoo in a robe, who most likely never moved beyond the confines of his own living room without being encased in a 2 ton steel cage, is somehow a better judge of this that the rider him/herself, is about the greatest display of well indoctrinated progressive folly, since the Bolsheviks’ invention of the economic five year plan.

The Reg

It has recently been recommended after a major ‘enquiry’ in to motorcycle safety in Victoria Australia that lane splitting be allowed. State Government is yet to act on the recommendation but it certainly makes sense in big cities particularly.

Unfortunately there is a ‘mindset’ amongst car drivers that just cannot stand someone getting ahead of them in heavy traffic.

I recall riding in North Carolina on our visit in 2009 where a State Trooper pulled me over for lane splitting….the traffic had come to a halt and it was about 90 degrees and I’m on an Electraglide Ultra with my wife!

The officer was quite angry and said that I should sit in line – and bad luck about the heat. The only reason he let me off was because I was an International Tourist who explained that it was ‘common practice where I come from’….

He would have thrown the book at a local and nothing about what I was doing was dangerous….just sensible, but The LAW is the LAW eh?

Someday ‘common sense’ might even get a ‘look-in’ amongst bureaucrats and politicians….but I won’t hole my breath!

Cheers,

Paul.

jfc1

another reason that people get upset, why should motorcyclists be allowed to do it when other riders can’t?

not saying that it makes sense but still

The Reg

I think more and more cities are providing Bicycle lanes – if that’s what you mean….and most of them get away with it anyway and ride on footpaths etc….there’s no number plates to record!

Cheers,
Paul.

jfc1

I’m talking about lane-splitting

riding in bicycle-lanes, who worries about that

MuleHeadJoe

Um, I think the guys on bicycles would be worried about guys tearing down the bike lane on a motorcycle … just sayin’ …
jfc1

screw them
who says that only bicycles can ride in bike lanes

PVT_Citizen

Just got back from Paris, France and they are the king of lane splitting. The thing I noticed the most are the dents/scrapes on about 80% of the scooters/motorcycles I saw.
Harvey Highsmith

Live in Florida, we sure could use it here. Yes, I would lane split. Age? 62 Bike 1973 CB750.
k2_k2

I live in Florida but did my motorcycle training in the UK where the rule of thumb was the 20:20 rule. You can lane split traffic moving 20mph or less, and not at more than 20mph faster than the traffic itself is moving. For example, in 10mph traffic, you are free to split lanes (we call it filtering) but at no faster than 30mph.
Mixie

1) Lane splitting is a great incentive for cagers to get a bike, so it is good for the industry. Several people got tired of sitting in traffic so they got licensed, bought a bike and first started with the HoV lane. After a few years of experience they now split lanes.
2) There is more to lane splitting at speed on highways! For instance, on surface streets, with a long row of cars stopped at a light, it is safe to inch your way to the front. I would suggest to the other 49 states to start with tolerating that as a first step (ok to split if traffic is stopped).
loboracer

As one who has lived in CA, MO, IL I can say that this is about the only thing that they allow that makes sense.
Craig

Actually most of the world does allow lane splitting. I’ve lived in California many years ago and it took me awhile to start practicing lane splitting. I’ve since lived in Japan and India and in both cases lane splitting is a huge benefit. In the US I don’t think motorist would be very accepting of sharing their lanes as they are not used to it (other than Californians). The rest of the lane splitting world is accustomed to this practice and it works very well (in my opinion).
http://www.facebook.com/dale.morgan.3990 Dale Morgan

I rode out on the California freeways for the first time this summer (I’m 61). At first I swore I wouldn’t lane split – just seemed to dangerous. After watching tons of bikes pass me, I ended up getting in line and following the rest of the bikes splitting lanes. It just makes a lot of sense. Mostly the cars try to edge out to give you room. I only did the lane spliting when traffic was stopped, or moving at a crawl. What I did see is some bikers lane splitting at 100 when the traffic was moving 75. Probably good for the CHP to make rules on this.

http://www.facebook.com/dale.morgan.3990 Dale Morgan

A non-biker friend out in Cali told me that lane-splitting by motorcycles helps relieve congestion on the freeways. Rather than have each bike take up basically the lane space of a car, this moves the bikes through traffic and through the congestion.
MuleHeadJoe

“Probably good for the CHP to make rules on this” … heh … that’s funny … there are already rules existing. They’re called “speed laws” … you can’t legally travel at 100 mph on any public roadway in Cali (I’m not even sure you can go 75 in this state … I know that some interstates have a 70 limit, but I don’t think there’s a 75 limit anywhere here) so those clowns are already breaking the law. I don’t think it’s really necessary to add guidelines just to say “do not break the law” … it’s kinda understood.

Slink

The CHP guidelines seem well thought out and should be a must read for all motorists, 2 or 4 wheels. I do split a bit more briskly than the guidelines suggest, but the suggestions are spot-on and obviously written by people who understand motorcycles. A few additional suggestions… the car-pool lane has way fewer motorists changing in and out… if you follow another motorcycle (especially a loud one), the car traffic will be thinking about motorcycles when you pass through.

MuleHeadJoe

On the subject of carpool lanes … here in Cali, the laws / regulations regarding carpool lanes — also known as High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes — vary based on region. In & around Sacramento, you only need 2 people per car to use HOV, and motorcycles are allowed at all times. In the Bay Area, you have to have 3 people per car to use HOV lanes, bikes okay. It used to be that a motorcycle (or HOV) could cross the Bay Bridge without paying toll, but I haven’t ridden that particular passage in years and I’m not sure if bikes (or HOVs) are allowed to bypass any longer. In Northern California in general, the HOV lanes are time delimited … i.e., outside of posted “rush hour” times, these lanes are accessible to all vehicles regardless of passenger count. However, in Southern California, the HOV lanes are permanent – no usage at any time except by vehicles meeting the minimum passenger count. Unsure if motorcycles are okay to use HOV lanes in SoCal, but I would assume it is. Also, in NorCal, you can enter & exit the HOV lane at any point, but in SoCal you are supposed to only enter or exit at specially marked zones. Fun, ain’t it?

Buckwheat

Lane splitting should absolutely be allowed, probably constrained by a mph maximum and an officer’s perception of whether the maneuver is reckless or not.
Mike Gillies

Finally!!!
Requiring motorcyclists to sit in traffic jams is
immoral. The consequences of being rear-ended on a bike are dire,
whereas the risks of splitting lanes are manageable and actually quite
minimal.
Go California! One down, 49 to go.
PJM361

It would be even safer if every highway had a left lane that was a couple of feet wider so that bikes could pass on the left. Then you wouldn’t have to spilt between 2 vehicles. Less chance of getting hit by a car changing lanes to the right. Although, you would have to watch out for the occasional driver jumping onto the shoulder.
Thomas H.

I am all for safe lane splitting and I wish it were allowed in South Carolina. It is amusing to see on the CHP list of ‘When not to split’ includes when wide vehicles are present, such as trucks and buses. Then you see the picture to the article and they are splitting next to a semi! Not a knock, just a little humor…
Millunzi

Lane Splitting is the singe greatest thing about living in Los Angeles. Done effectively it increases a biker’s safety, reduces traffic, and saves fuel. Along with not getting rear ending, splitting enables riders to get to past a long line of traffic and get out in front – where it is safest.
Cascdeair

I live in London now. The worlds greatest lane splitting city! I am originally from San Francisco and thought I knew about lane-splitting (or filtering, as they call it here), but the dispatch riders of London really taught me how to ride. Saves money, time, and frustration. Their laws are loosy-goosy too- it depends on the coppers definition of safety, but I have never seen anyone pulled over for it. I have ridden 85,000 miles in London and England now.
jfc1

Go on YT and google this video:

no prisoners 2012

…and I swear, there is an exceptionally good chance that you will never lane-split again. I have never seen such a powerful argument against it.