Hank

Do any of you long time LA residents(or riders) know what the laws are when it comes to who has the right of way when motorcycles are splitting lanes or moving to the front of the traffic signal?

Twice today I had a bike come within inches of my car at 60 mph, one crack or crease in the road and my car moved an inch or two and I would have taken the guy out, would this be my fault? If I occupy the lane first do I have to yield to them? Do insurance companies actually sell them insurance?

Just out of curiosity has this always been legal in California? Does anyone know the lane splitter history?

Chuck W.

If there were an accident, the motorcyclist (barring any violations by the car's driver) would be at fault. A motorcyclist may only split traffic at a safe speed. Usually when there is an accident, it is the result of excessive speed on the motorcyclist part. If he takes your mirror off it would be his fault.

I drove the freeways of Los Angeles for over 20 years on a motorcycle and have split miles and miles of traffic. It is dangerous and damn scary at times. I sold my Harley-Davidson for the 993 and have no regrets.

I started driving motorcycles when I was 15 years old (in 1969) and it was legal then. California has a large motorcycle lobby in Sacramento I am betting that this has help keep a law outlawing this practice from being passed. I am surprised we have a helmet law.

Reynard38

In GA it is illegal to lanesplit. I have ridden in Europe (Spain) where it is legal. The car drivers are much better there and are used to a high volume of bikes and scooters. Seems to work fine over there. Did take some getting used to though.

ChrisA

As a member of the two wheel community I was curious regarding the specifics of lane splitting here in California, and under what specific situations is it legal. Apparently there is a lot of ambiguity regarding this law, lanesplitting is only legal at slow speeds with a required speed differential between the car and motorcycle. If an unsafe situation is created the CHP will ticket the bike, no doubt lanesplitting at 60 is an unsafe practice. The general belief from the other bikes is due to the large numbers of motorcycle CHP's they have left this law in an effort to create a level of awareness from other drivers. Considering most of the laws in California it is amazing this one is still on the books.

hddude

Getting rear ended by a cage while riding isn't a swell proposition either, and tailgating is so common on LA freeways, it's ridiculous. It is almost pointless to try to leave space in front of you because someone or several people will quickly steal it. Rumor has it the cops' desire to split lanes is the reason the practice is tolerated. A few years ago a driver saw an approaching splitter in his mirror and opened his door to teach the guy a lesson. Huge mistake. It caused the rider to go down and it turned out the rider was a cop. The driver was criminally prosecuted, as I recall.

I personally found splitting lanes to be too hairy when I lived in SoCal, but if I had to ride LA freeways every day I might chance it at least when traffic is crawling along and the tailgaters are doing their best to risk life and limb of those folks on two wheels.

fbfisher

I thought the basis for the law was that they are air cooled and thus need to keep moving in traffic to prevent overheating. Gee, maybe we should lobby to be able to drive on the shoulders when there is traffic.

B-Line

Hey Guys,

Sorry for this thread bump but I missed it the first go round..
I have been riding for years but needed to redo my Motorcycle license when I moved to California. Since it's safety first on a moto, I decided to take the California Motorcycle safety course..

Lane Splitting came up as a topic and as of a few months ago, the deal is:

LANE SPLITTING is neither LEGAL or ILLEGAL in the state of California. I believe that in the other 49 states there are laws, on the books, that specifically prohibit LANE SPLITTING making it ILLEGAL.. As far as California goes, there is no law that permits it and no law outlawing it. It's on the fringe.

I know that doesn't help much, but that's the facts....
B

Michael_Philippi

Interesting topic, since I own both a BMW K1200RS and a 993. Lane-"sharing" is legal. There is a specific vehicle code section which allows lane sharing. The basis for this is twofold; one, as previously mentioned, has to do with the fact most older motorcycles are air cooled, and when standing still in traffic would overheat. The second, has to do with the results of the HURT study, done by a UCLA professor back in the 70s. (Hurt was his last name) It was determined that it is safer for motorcyclists to move slowly between lines of cars, that to be stuck in stop and go. The rational being that motorcycles tend to disappear in traffic, and following cars judge their braking distance on the car in front of the motorcycle, leading to accidents.

Lane sharing is allowed up to 40 mph and the motocycle can only be going 10 (or is it 5) mph faster than traffic. Thus, if somebody is lane sharing at 60 mph, they are breaking the law.

The California vehicle code says a motorist cannot change directions, even within their own lane, without first signaling, and determining it is safe to change directions. This applies to drifting from one side of the lane to another. Thus, if you are on your cell phone, weaving back and forth while looking up a telephone number and you collide with a motorcyclist, you are at fault. If a motorcyclist hits your mirror while passing you, and you maintained direction the whole time, she is at fault.

It always amuses me when a driver sees me coming in his mirror, and then moves over in the lane, to the point where his tires are riding on the bots dots, just so I can't pass him. All it does is slow me down a little. I'm still going to get home before him. Think about it people, I could be in a car, and in front of you. The more motorcyclists on the road, the faster everybody moves.

Michael

Chuck W.

Nice MC....If I were to ever ride again, and I won't, I would look at that bike.

shidinger

Nice write-up Michael. I'm both a rider and a driver in California and have certainly shared many miles of lanes. I usually only do it in bumper-to-bumper creeping traffic. It just never made sense to me to rip between two cars going 50 mph. It's a Darwinian thing.