If you have been stuck in traffic enough, you have probably seen more than one motorcyclist take advantage of their bike's narrow width and squeeze between two vehicles. They can often be seen riding through slowed, or stopped traffic, in an effort to get to the front of the pack. What you may not realize is that unless you are in the state of California, this practice is actually illegal. Some studies have argued that it should not be, and lane splitting may actually help reduce the number of motorcycle related accidents throughout the country.
What Is Lane Splitting?
Simply put, lane splitting is when a two wheeled vehicle shares the lane with other slower vehicles while moving in the same direction. Although, this term is often used when the practice involves stopped vehicles as well as slowing vehicles. This is not correct. The practice of sharing a lane when the vehicles have come to a stop is actually called filtering. Lane splitting is also called whitelining, stripe-riding, or lane sharing. This practice allows motorcycle riders to move to the front of traffic saving them the time they would have been sitting with everyone else.
While the practice of lane splitting is very popular in many other countries, it is illegal in most states in the United States with the exception of California. In the last few years, legalization of lane splitting has been looked at by several others states including New Jersey, Nevada, and Colorado to just name a few.
Is Lane Splitting Safe?
Many opponents of lane splitting cite the lack of safety as their main concern. Although, they view the practice as being unsafe, the most recent study conducted by the University of California Berkeley shows lane splitting may actually be safer than not allowing the practice. Statistics show lane splitting riders are less like to suffer from head, torso, or even fatal injuries in the event of an accident. They are also less likely to be rear ended by vehicles, than the motorcyclist who stays in their lane. Unfortunately, there are no minor accidents when a car rear ends a motorist. The rider is usually hurt, or even killed.
Could this increase in safety also be contributed to other causes? This too may be likely.
This same study also showed the following:
- Motorcyclists engaging in lane splitting were also more like to wear a full-face helmet. A full face helmet when properly worn will provide more protection from head injuries in the event of a crash.
- Lane splitting riders were only exceeding the traffic by less than 15 mph. The study states that this slight increase in speed was not associated with changes in the frequency of injury. Since 35% of riders killed in 2011 were as a direct result of the rider speeding, the lower speeds could have a direct correlation on a reduced number of accidents.
- The study showed lane splitting riders were more likely to be riding during commuting hours, and less likely to be using alcohol. This too should lessen the number of accidents due to the fact that the 2011 statistics reflect 42% of the riders who died in single vehicle accidents were legally intoxicated, and those who were killed at night were three times more likely to be intoxicated than those who were killed during the day.
Lane splitting is safer as long as it is done in a responsible manner. It is the careless riders who zip ahead at high speeds that give the practice a bad name.
Hopefully, with California leading the pack, more states will come on board and allow riders to split lanes. Just think, when that is allowed, there will be one less vehicle sitting between you and your destination. For more information on the motorcycle laws in your state, contact an attorney at http://www.hinklelawoffices.com.
