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California Lane Splitting Passed Into Law - CHP To Assign Rules

California has finally passed a new bill that clearly defines what lane splitting is as well as officially accept it as a traffic-flow enhancing practice as long as some guidelines established by the CHP are to be obeyed.
Lane Splitting on Californian Highway 1 photo
Photo: Wikipedia
According to an LA Times report, Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation by Assemblyman Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) that defines lane splitting and also authorizes the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to define some rules for motorcyclists to obey regarding the practice.

"I am thrilled to see that California is once again at the forefront of common-sense road safety legislation,” Quirk told the publication. "Signing of this bill will bring legitimacy to this practice and help to keep our roads safer and our drivers – both motorcyclists and motorists – better educated.”

The law now defines lane splitting as “driving a motorcycle that has two wheels in contact with the ground, between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane, including on both divided and undivided streets, roads, or highways”.

As for the official CHP lane splitting guidelines, that remains to be disclosed soon. The previous rules were allowing motorcyclists to split lanes as long as their speed was not exceeding 15 mph above the traffic speed and was forbidding the maneuver above 50 mph.

This original set of guidelines turned riders against the CHP, saying the advised speeds are too low and that they shouldn’t be making up rules as it’s not in their jurisdiction.

Well, guess what, the law passed and the Californian state officially designated the CHP to establish such guides. Kinda funny how the law works, right?

Personally, I think it’s a good thing the Highway Patrol will handle the rules. Even before the new law, there was a tacit agreement between bikers and the cops that let them lane split as long as they weren’t being lunatics. Plus, the motorcycle policemen do it too, so they know better how it should be done compared to someone sitting in a chair all day inventing new laws.
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