Lane Splitting Pt 1 - What's the Deal?

As a motorcyclist from California, I'm often asked in my travels about the legitimacy of the act of "lane splitting". First, I will henceforth refer to it as the more positive term: "Lane SHARING".

There's a lot of mis-information about the practice; thoughts that follow some kind of pattern of certain rules or regulations:

"it's legal to do if you go X speed"
"it's legal if you are no more than Y speed faster than traffic"
"As long as you are in the left most lane you're OK"
"only upon a mounted Yak may you share the lane"
"there is a law that says you can do it so your motor won't overheat"

I'm here to tell you that all the above are false. In reality, the California Vehicle Code (CVC) does not expressly say you CAN NOT share the lane, in fact the CVC makes no reference to the practice at all. It is this grey area that allows motorcyclists to share the lane. It is this same grey area that allows a car to share the lane and make a right hand turn, even if there is another car occupying the same lane.

While there is no specific law to govern the use of the practice, all driving maneuvers are still governed by the so called "general" rules of driving. An example of this would be CVC 22350, the "general speed law" which states:

"No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no even at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property."

You'll notice that this statement has absolutely no numbers in it at all. What is important is that this rule applies during the act of lane sharing.

Now I know you're thinking "Dude, I thought you just said that there were no official rules for lane sharing".

Yes, that is correct, but that doesn't mean that you are free to blow past a SUV at 100 in the rain. The point of the discussion is that you're still under the same rules if you're simpling puttering in a straight line, or wiggling around sharing lanes.

See the following statement from the CHP website:
"Lane splitting (arg) by motorcycles is permissible but it must be done in a safe and prudent manner"

You'll notice the terms "safe and prudent" which are almost quotes of CVC 22350 exactly. In other words, no CVC law, but they are applying the general speed law on the practice of lane sharing.

When it comes down to it, what you can and cannot do on a public road is really between you and the Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) who is watching you. With that in mind, you may be lane sharing at a speed slightly faster than traffic, in a manner that you thought was OK. Suddenly, a LEO may decide pull you over and cite you under CVC 22350 because it was hailing and the road was covered in oil. In other words, you were not performing the maneuver in a safe and prudent manner.

Bottom line: You are free to lane share but please use good judgement - this is a special privilege that CA motorcyclists have. Believe me there have been many tries to take it away - don't give them another excuse.


Stay tuned for part 2: my amusing lane sharing anecdote.