Lane-splitting rules will protect everyone on road

If you want to start a fight between people who drive cars and those who ride motorcycles, just mention lane-splitting.

Many drivers, who have had cyclists zoom past them mere inches from their window, say it’s one of the scariest hazards on the freeway. But many motorcyclists say that lane-splitting protects them from being rear-ended in heavy traffic. And the noise from their mufflers lets everyone know they’re coming.

A new, first-of-its-kind study isn’t likely to settle the argument. But it does provide some numbers giving the California Highway Patrol some ammunition in its efforts to restore some common-sense rules to protect motorists and motorcyclists alike.

A yearlong analysis concluded that lane-splitting is no more dangerous than motorcycling in general. But there’s a huge caveat – it’s safe only as long as the rider is traveling at or near the same speed as nearby vehicles.

Lane-splitting becomes more hazardous when motorcyclists go above the speed limit, or more than 10 mph faster than the cars they’re passing. So, those cycles threading the white line at 30 mphy on I580 while you’re creeping along at 5 mph are not safe. Of course, that’s when riding between the lanes gives cycists the biggest advantage, allowing them to ride through traffic jams.

The study was commissioned by the Highway Patrol and state Office of Traffic Safety and conducted by UC Berkeley researchers who looked at data collected by 80 law enforcement agencies statewide on collisions involving nearly 8,300 motorcyclists.

Motorcyclists are overrepresented in California traffic deaths. The number of fatalities nearly tripled from 1998 and 2008, but went down in 2009 and 2010. They increased nearly 5 percent, from 415 in 2011 to 435 in 2012, the most recent figures available.

Lane-splitting appears to becoming more common – 62 percent of motorcyclists say they do it on freeways and other roads, up 7.5 percentage points from last year.

California is the only state in the nation that doesn’t ban the maneuver. And any move to regulate lane-splitting runs into a hornet’s nest of criticism from motorcycle advocates.

Last year, the Highway Patrol issued the first written 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. Because they were only voluntary guidelines, violating them would not lead to a ticket.

Still, someone complained the CHP had not gone through the proper rule-making process. In response, the CHP decided not to issue or enforce the guidelines and removed them from its website.

Motorcyclists might not like anyone telling them what to do, but they have to recognize that it’s their safety at stake. If drivers don’t see them and hit them, the person driving the car might only lose a side mirror. Cyclists, however, could be seriously injured. More likely, if a motocycle going 30 or 35 mph tags a slow-moving car, the motorcycle is going to injure others nearby as well. So it’s not just about the motorcycles.

Freeways should be as safe as possible for everyone. If having guidelines on when it is safe to ride between the cars – and how fast it can safely be done – then it defies logic not to have them.

This story was originally published October 22, 2014 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Lane-splitting rules will protect everyone on road."