California Moves A Step Closer To Allowing Motorcycle Lane Splitting

By Kyle Buis

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — California could be the first state in the nation to formalize rules for motorcycle lane-splitting.

Assembly Bill 51 passed the Assembly on a 69-0 vote on Thursday. The bill goes to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk. His office has not stated if he his likely to sign the bill.

The proposed rule comes two years after the California Highway Patrol published a guide that seemingly endorsed the practice of motorcyclists riding between lanes of stalled or slow-moving traffic.

The bill's author, Assemblyman Bill Quirk of Hayward, put the legislation on hold last year, but this year had the votes to get it passed.

AB51 would require the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the CHP to come up with educational guidelines on lane splitting.

The bill itself won't lay out guidelines for lane splitting. A previous version of the bill defined legal lane splitting as driving no more than 50 mph or 15 mph faster than the speed of traffic moving in the same direction.

In January 2015, a motorcyclist died while lane splitting on Interstate 80 near Sacramento. Investigators say the motorcyclist was traveling at around 50 to 60 mph and struck a truck moving at around 5 mph.