For years many motorcyclists (including myself) have thought that there was a law on the books making it legal for motorcycles to split/share lanes in the state of California because it is a common practice for riders in California to move through traffic between the other vehicles. As of now there is actually no law on the books allowing lane splitting or lane sharing. The fact is that it is not addressed in the vehicle code at all, so it is not ILLEGAL as in other states who's laws state a traffic lane may not be occupied by more than one (1) vehicle at a time.
Well that could change very soon and California could be the first state in the nation to formalize rules for motorcycle lane-splitting. Assembly Bill 51, authored by Assemblyman Bill Quirk of Hayward, passed the Assembly on a 69-0 vote on Thursday. The bill goes to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. Gov. Brown's has not stated if he will sign the bill or not.
Two years ago the California Highway Patrol published a guide for motorcyclists riding between lanes of stalled or slow-moving traffic that appeared to endorse the practice, however no laws actually allowing or regulating the parctice were in place. The current bill, AB51, contains no giudlines for for lane splitting, however it does require the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the CHP to come up with educational guidelines.
August 5, 2016- -
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August 8, 2016- -
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