California May Soon Become First State To Legalize Lane-Splitting
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — California may soon become the first state in American to legalize the practice of lane-splitting – when motorcyclists drive between vehicles.
The State Assembly passed a bill Thursday that would officially allow the practice and set up rules for those who take part in it.
"The limited visibility of motorcycles makes them inherently much more dangerous than automobiles," Assemblyman Tom Lackey said. "So we need to do whatever we can to provide protection for them and make it safe for automobiles, and that's what this bill exactly does."
Lackey, who worked as a California Highway Patrol officer for nearly three decades, was the co-author of the bill and worked with a leading motorcycle safety expert from the University of California to develop the rules, which would set strict limits on motorcycle speeds.
Under the bill, motorcyclists could travel between cars, which are often standing still or driving slowly, at up to 15 mph faster than the traffic is moving with a maximum overall speed of 50 mph.
Critics believe it would be almost impossible to enforce the speed limits in the bill.
"First of all, it's hard to implement the law with those speed limits. It's either you have lane-splitting or you don't have lane splitting," one driver said. "Don't legalize it because it just creates more problems and a lot of accidents."
Motorcyclists Ivan Valdes and Alejandra Arreola say the new law recognizing the practice would make things safer.
"It's a good thing, especially since everyone's doing it already,"Arreola said. "Maybe it'll have the drivers in the vehicles be a little more cautious about bikers out there and right of way."
The bill would have to pass the State Senate and be signed by Governor Jerry Brown to become a law.
