A reasonable bill on lane-splitting stresses safety
Many who drive cars absolutely hate it when a motorcyclist straddles the white line and goes flying by like an angry dragon. And motorcyclists absolutely hate it when anyone tries to interfere with one of the benefits to riding a motorcycle, being able to weave through slow-moving traffic to save time.
It’s called lane-splitting, and the arguments over it often seem louder than the bikes themselves.
It appears, though, that we might be about to get a reasonable compromise and some sensible safety rules about a highway maneuver banned in every other state. That it is dangerous cannot be disputed. But it can be done safely, and reducing the danger should be a goal for every responsible motorist – whether on two wheels or four.
The state Assembly has approved a bill that would officially authorize cyclists to pass in the narrow area between lanes of traffic. But – and this is a crucial but – they could only go 15 miles per hour faster than the cars they’re passing, and if traffic is going faster than 50 mph, they couldn’t do it at all.
These are reasonable restrictions and should help avoid the deadliest crashes. Assemblyman Bill Quirk, a Hayward Democrat, and his co-authors deserve credit for seeking a compromise and for basing legislation on facts rather than emotion.
A first-of-its-kind UC Berkeley study – released last year and commissioned by the California Highway Patrol and state Office of Traffic Safety – found that injuries from lane-splitting collisions are significantly reduced when the speed differential between cars and cycles is less than 10 mph and when motorcycles stay under the speed limit.
Quirk said Assembly Bill 51 is intended to stop the most extreme and dangerous lane-splitting – using the manuever at high speed – while still allowing motorcyclists to avoid getting hit and overheating in heavy traffic. Three-quarters of all riders said they use their bikes for “pleasure riding” all or part of the time. And more than 85 percent said they “lane split” at least sometimes. There’s nothing pleasurable about being hit by an unaware car driver going 65 mph.
“If you are speeding or have a wide speed differential (compared to other traffic), that is where the traffic fatalities came about,” said spokesman Chris Cochran of the Office of Traffic Safety. Otherwise, he pointed out, lane-splitting is no more dangerous than riding a motorcycle under any circumstances.
Riders should embrace this compromise. In 2013, the Highway Patrol established “voluntary guidelines” advising cyclists not to go more than 10 mph faster than other traffic and not to lane-split when traffic is moving faster than 30 mph. Riders complained that the guidelines had not gone through proper rule-making, and the CHP tossed them. This bill is less restrictive.
As this measure gets closer to the finish line, the state Senate is likely to hear from the absolutists – those motorists who want an outright ban and those motorcyclists who believe that any restrictions somehow violate their freedoms.
Senators should stay in the middle of the road and pass this bill.
This story was originally published June 9, 2015 at 4:27 PM with the headline "A reasonable bill on lane-splitting stresses safety."