I thought California already legally allowed lane splitting?

I thought California already legally allowed lane splitting?
http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-california-becomes-first-step-to-1471635067-htmlstory.html

Comments

Marquis Davis said…
Yeah, it's been legal for years in California
Well, semantics issue. As I understood, it was not illegal to split lanes; CHP had guidelines that were interpreted as 'rules'.

Apparently, they were challenged as such; they were removed for a while from the CHP while this legislation officially provides for the CHP to produce guidelines. I believe there's also language that now provides for a legal definition of lane sharing.

Kudos to California for implementing this. Now to have other states (where reasonable...) begin to understand the positives of this.
I'd love to see it legalized in Canada. It reduces the number of people trapped in traffic jams, sitting idling. It also encourages more people to ride, and bikes tend to be far more fuel efficient.
SoCal is a much nicer riding area than home. Now that family lives in the region, it's even more apparent in the riding styles between home and SoCal.
The dispute, however, is in the number of motorcyclists that make a difference. It'd have to be >10% motorcycles for a significant traffic difference with lane sharing (for the European readers, filtering in traffic) compared to what it is.
Let's simply call it the perk of a motorcyclist to be able to execute this move - legally - in the state of #California
It is unofficially ok in Australia.
Most cops won't pull you up unless you're doing it in a fashion they think is dangerous.
I only use it when think I have enough room.
The multi strada is pretty wide.
Woody Wood said…
SoCal is all i know. I couldn't imagine not being allowed to lane split. There's few times where i have no choice but to be stuck behind and in front of cars and it's very unnerving. It needs to be legal everywhere.
Michael Meyer said…
It is not legal in SOCal it is just that it is not illegal. the new legislation will change that.
Sash Walker said…
I talked with my State Assembly Representative about this. She said the only reason this wasn't passed earlier is because Democrats kept trying to add riders on the bill. The State Assembly wanted to pass it 3 years ago when it was first brought up.
And yes. It has not ever been illegal. It just wasn't technically legal. The only way you would get ticketed is if you were riding dangerously or making contact with other vehicles. The current law stipulates that the lane can hold as many vehicles as it can fit.
Funny, huh?
Been legal in many states of Australia for some time.

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