Dangers of "lane-splitting" has motorists divided

Lane splitting, when a motorcyclist drives between cars, isn't illegal in California. While it might seem dangerous, studies at one major university found the practice is safe within certain speed limits, reports CBS News correspondent Carter Evans.

Search the term "lane splitting" on YouTube and you'll find hundreds of examples of motorcycles one after the other, whizzing past congestion, in between cars.

Some riders do it to save time, others seem to like the thrill.

But for many drivers who share the road with riders brave enough "lane-split," it can sometimes lead to accidents.

"I was splitting lanes, and he was coming out, and I was like, 'oh, should I like, avoid him or not,'" Motorcyclist Robert Gutierrez said.

In most states, motorcycle riders have to stay in a marked lane just like a car, but in California, riders are allowed to drive between lanes and speed past slow moving traffic.

"I just feel like it's dangerous," motorist Lisa Simpson.

Motorcyclists insist the practice is safe when done with the same level of caution as regular motorcycle driving, and now a new study suggests they're right.

According to a year-long analysis by researchers at University of California at Berkeley, if motorcyclists "lane-split" at speeds slightly faster than the flow of traffic, they're no more likely to have an accident than at any other time.

But if they drive more than 10 mph faster than traffic, the risks can greatly increase.

In the eyes of Oscar Herrera, a motorcycle race instructor who's been riding for 30 years, there's a safe speed to "lane-split."

"Cars are doing 20-25, 30 is OK," he said. "No higher, because at 30 mph, by the time you hit the brakes, you've already passed two cars."

So the people splitting lanes at 60 mph when the traffic is at a dead stop, Herrera said, "they are asking for it."

Most California motorcyclists agree, it's the few dangerous ones bikers that give majority of safe bikers a bad name.