Would you like lane-splitting to be legal in Arizona (or your state)?
angrybob at motorcyclebloggers.com posed this question to his readers, and asked others to do the same.
Lane splitting is currently only legal in California. Do not confuse this with lane sharing, which is two motorcycles riding side by side in the same lane. Lane splitting involves riding on the striped line between lanes, and between the cars that are involved in the congestion. Lane sharing is legal in a lot of states, but not lane splitting.
Advocates of lane splitting in California cite several reasons, including the fact that a lot of motorcycles are air cooled, and subject to over heating in the stop and go traffic sometimes involved with big city commerce. One I have not heard of actually happened to me when I was stationed in California back in the early seventies. I frequently was riding in rush hour traffic in San Francisco, and even then resorted to lane splitting to minimize my need to stop, then go, then stop.
One day, though, my parents had come from Montana to visit me, and we went into San Francisco to do the routine tourist things. Since Mom and Dad were going to Lodi to see an uncle after the visit, and I had to report back to my ship, I rode my motorcycle while they followed me in their car. We ran into the stop and go, and, because Mom and Dad were following, I was forced to stop and go with the traffic. After about 4 miles of this, my clutch cable snapped. Luckily, I was carrying a cable fixer, and the down time was short, but we said our good byes for the night and I continued to my ship, lane splitting the rest of the way.
So, here is the poll, and I would really be interested in your comments for or against, as well as any personal experiences with splitting the lanes with your motorcycle.
Would you like lane-splitting to be legal in North Carolina (or your state)?
May 8th, 2007
Two recent articles I read: one about Missouri coming closer to a helmet law repeal and the other about 8 states considering reinstating helmet laws, gave me occasion to express my views on the helmet law debate.
Let’s examine first some of the reasons there may be an increased drive to mandate helmet usage for motorcyclists. From the article cited above:
“States are beginning to be concerned about the number of people killed in motorcycle crashes,” said Barbara Harsha, head of the Governors Highway Safety Association, which supports helmet laws.
Motorcycle fatalities soared from 2,116 in 1997 to 4,553 in 2005 as other roadway deaths declined. Motorcycle riding also grew, but the fatality rate nearly doubled from 1997 to 2004, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The agency says helmets are “the most effective safety gear” for motorcyclists. But helmet use dropped from 71% in 2000 to 51% in 2006, NHTSA says, adding that helmets saved 1,546 lives in 2005.
My first question here is “How can NHTSA determine that [exactly] 1,546 lives were saved in 2005?” Sounds more like throwing out numbers to support a point of view to me. Which, of course is what statistics are all about, isn’t it? Two groups taking the same raw data, and coming to two exactly opposite conclusions, of course both saying it is backed by factual statistics!
And of course, media’s use of appropriate terminology helps whichever side stress their side more also. Note that the motorcycle fatalities “soared”? Also, notice that the years compared always seem to change? From 1997 to 2005 for the first point, then 1997 to 2004 for the second point (which by the way just gleans on a very good reason for motorcycle fatalities and accidents to ’soar’ – the number of people actually riding a motorcycle has expanded greatly, perhaps even enough to fully explain the rise in motorcycle fatalities… but then NHTSA is not trying to keep people from buying motorcycles, they are trying to force them to buy motorcycle helmets). And then finally, when discussing decline in usage, a new year span, 2000 to 2006, is used. So here we are, putting all the data together by comparing apples to oranges to grapefruit… but the numbers don’t lie, do they? Per the NHTSA logic, there is a direct correlation between the rising number of motorcycle deaths and the decrease in helmet usage. Are you convinced? Sorry, not me, I need more relevant data.
The American Bikers Aimed Towards Education (ABATE) makes an attempt to more accurately portray motorcycle fatality statistics in a meaningful way, by comparing the death rate state by state and correlating the raw numbers to the number of motorcycles registered in each state. The problem with their data is it is dated now, based on statistics over 10 years ago. I would definitely be interested in seeing these statistics updated into this century, and urge ABATE to do so. Since ABATE is the spearhead for most states fights about singling the biker out for laws, it would be in all bikers interest to do this.
Finally, while on statistics and use of them to pass helmet laws, it is interesting to note that while head injuries are a very common injury in car accidents, there is no drive by the NHTSA to get states to pass a helmet law for automobiles! Could it be that, while bikers do not have the total numbers strength to vote out their entire legislative body, car owners do? Laws that are deemed safe for a politicians career seem to be in flavor now.
April 7th, 2007
I remember a long time ago, when I was first learning to ride a motorcycle in the Bay Area of California, seeing motorcycles beating the stop and go traffic that typifies San Francisco by going between two stopped cars. I quickly learned that this was the best way to save the engine of my motorcycle from over heating, as well as save a few clutch cables. But was it legal?
In California, it is perfectly legal for a motorcyclist to split lanes, as long as done safely. What this means is that the traffic has to be at or near a stop, only the striped lanes can be used for lane splitting (no crossing the solid lines delineating the edge of the road), and the motorcycle speed cannot be more than 15 mph above the traffic speed.
OK, now we bikers may know this, how about the cagers? Most are not aware of the legality or the reasons for lane splitting. So it helps when the television media puts out the word. NBC in San Diego just featured a story on lane splitting, which can be seen here.
And one last thing, California is the only state where motorcycles splitting lanes is legal.
March 24th, 2007
