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Lane splitting bill introduced (House Bill 813)

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george-1

george-1

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It's short, I'll quote it here:

Text of the bill: By: Muñoz, Jr. H.B. No. 813

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT relating to the operation and movement of motorcycles during periods of traffic congestion.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 545.060, Transportation Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(a) An operator on a roadway divided into two or more clearly marked lanes for traffic:
(1) shall drive as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane, except as provided by Subsection (e); and
(2) may not move from the lane unless that movement can be made safely.
(e) The operator of a motorcycle may operate the motorcycle for a safe distance between lanes of traffic moving in the same direction during periods of traffic congestion if:
(1) notwithstanding Section 661.003(c), the operator and any passenger wear protective headgear that meets the safety standards adopted by the department; and
(2) the operator operates the motorcycle:
(A) at a speed not more than five miles per hour greater than the speed of the other traffic;
(B) in traffic that is moving at a speed of 20 miles per hour or less; and
(C) in a location other than a school crossing zone or a location where the posted speed limit is 20 miles per hour or less.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
 
That's not a bad bill. Of course it needs to be 50 or 60 pages longer and more confusing, but other than being fairly easy to understand it looks OK.
 
Here's hoping for the best. But I bet it dies. It's a shame really. Commuting from Lakeside, CA to work this morning on the bike took 30 minutes. In a car it would have taken me 45+minutes due to traffic merging off of the 125.
 
That could be a nice change of if it became the law of the land. Locally in Nac, some things go the other way. There is a busy intersection, two lanes and a shoulder in each direction. One shoulder lane was marked off to prevent drivers from moving past cars stopped at a red light and making a right turn. Just caused more congestion.
 
george-1 said:
(A) at a speed not more than five miles per hour greater than the speed of the other traffic;
(B) in traffic that is moving at a speed of 20 miles per hour or less; and
Click to expand...

So the rider will be responsible to know the moving speed of every other vehicle in the vicinity and know that they are passing at a speed at or less than 5 mph overtake...

Ya good luck complying with that while riding.
And have fun defending your self in court
Having a law on the books that is not likely to be followed, nearly impossible to be followed as written even with the best intentions and leaves municipalities with the desire to write citations often and without remorse for if it increases safety or not..Is a horrible idea IMHO
 
Why the naysaying? It's kind of vague for enforcement, doesn't mention a plan for an awareness campaign, etc. So perhaps not the best worded law. But it's similar to what ALMOST passed before and opens one helluva loophole to allow lane splitting through major congestion due to an accident/breakdown. Personally, I'd like to see it not restricted to "during periods of traffic congestion" as that is to subjective and vague. I mean, can you filter up at lights in just normal traffic? Or would you somehow have to prove that traffic was heavier than normal and therefore you HAD to filter through to avoid the congestion? And 5mph speed differential is so minor that you are barely passing. But if they made it 10mph, everyone will do 20mph difference, and how is someone to really clock that difference anyway. So the wording leaves some gray area. But it's a very good start!
 
Even if you wouldn't personally exercise the lanesplitting option often, you might be very glad you can do it legally that one time you get stuck in an all out standstill traffic jam on a 95deg day.
 
Those particular restrictions seem quite familiar. As in I have seen the same verbiage in laws that are in place in other states.

I hope it passes this time. I would be reluctant to do it, but am not opposed to making it legal for those that would do it.
 
If I'm stuck in traffic and the bike is overheating, I'd love to split legally. On a regular basis, not likely with the size of my beast.
 
E.Marquez said:
So the rider will be responsible to know the moving speed of every other vehicle in the vicinity and know that they are passing at a speed at or less than 5 mph overtake...



Ya good luck complying with that while riding.

And have fun defending your self in court

Having a law on the books that is not likely to be followed, nearly impossible to be followed as written even with the best intentions and leaves municipalities with the desire to write citations often and without remorse for if it increases safety or not..Is a horrible idea IMHO
Click to expand...


Personally, I think this is so the cops can clearly bust someone shooting past cars doing 70 down the highway.

I agree with others here, I wouldn't normally do it, but when traffic is bad and I can safely get through, I can see myself doing it.
 
The law is the last thing I am worried about. I'm worried about the redneck in the F-350 that will get all pissed off because he doesn't agree with the law and doesn't like that I don't have to sit in line, not to mention his dislike for motorcyclists in general. I have to deal with them all the time and I'm not even trying to get between them.
 
WoodButcher said:
If I'm stuck in traffic and the bike is overheating, I'd love to split legally. On a regular basis, not likely with the size of my beast.
Click to expand...

That's my Oilhead in the Houston Galleria on any day between March and December. Guess it's time to start making some phone calls. I'd rather have it and not use it than watch that temp gauge climb.
 
When traffic is bad and the heat of summer is beating down on me...yeah you bet I'd love to split through congested traffic or to the front of the line at a red light. I'm always a little nervous when a vehicle runs up behind me at a red light and I'm left wondering does this person see me? Will they stop in time? Are they just one of those people who hits the brakes late?

I'm all for this bill, with a few caveats and amendments.
 
JRW69 said:
The law is the last thing I am worried about. I'm worried about the redneck in the F-350 that will get all pissed off because he doesn't agree with the law and doesn't like that I don't have to sit in line, not to mention his dislike for motorcyclists in general. I have to deal with them all the time and I'm not even trying to get between them.
Click to expand...



I split in the DFW area for 4 and a half years. In that time I had 2 people try to squeeze me to get me to stop and less than a handfull of horn honks. :rider:
 
Me too, both with the Harley and Triumph. A few honkers here and there. Never been stopped by the law and got blocked only a few times. Lots of drivers move over a bit when they see you coming. Rode in California for 10 years and its no worse here.
Give the law a go. Texas will be the first state in the union to have such a law.
 
I contacted my reps via email, Twitter and Facebook pages to ask them to support this bill.

I lane split frequently in DFW on highways when traffic is bad enough. I split on 35 southbound last night. Tonight on Bush I did not, due to the rain and everything. I wanted to rather badly though.
 
I asked Representative Munoz to file the bill and I've been working with the Governmental Liaison of the AMA as well. It's a start, something good. We need to get it out of Calendars Committee and assigned so that it can go to hearings. At that time is when we need support for the bill. The AMA has 15,000 members in Texas and they can broadcast an email to all members so as to mobilize support. Senator Kirk Watson will be filing a companion bill on the Senate side. If you want to help email me at ricardo@rapzconsulting.com Thanks!
 
JRW69 said:
The law is the last thing I am worried about. I'm worried about the redneck in the F-350 that will get all pissed off because he doesn't agree with the law and doesn't like that I don't have to sit in line, not to mention his dislike for motorcyclists in general. I have to deal with them all the time and I'm not even trying to get between them.
Click to expand...

I like the idea of being able to do it legally, especially where 281N and 1604 merge, however, I totally agree with above! And there are very few times without congestion in SA anymore...
 
It's pretty watered down, more like a lane filtering bill than true lane sharing or splitting though...But it's a start so I'm for it...except for the helmet requirement.

_
 
rapz said:
I asked Representative Munoz to file the bill and I've been working with the Governmental Liaison of the AMA as well. It's a start, something good. We need to get it out of Calendars Committee and assigned so that it can go to hearings. At that time is when we need support for the bill. The AMA has 15,000 members in Texas and they can broadcast an email to all members so as to mobilize support. Senator Kirk Watson will be filing a companion bill on the Senate side. If you want to help email me at ricardo@rapzconsulting.com Thanks!
Click to expand...

Rapz,

Sent you an email about giving this one a marketing push.
 
SilverBullet said:
It's pretty watered down, more like a lane filtering bill than true lane sharing or splitting though...But it's a start so I'm for it...except for the helmet requirement.

_
Click to expand...

I caught that too. Think of it as "We give you something, now you give us something." That's how business and legislation all get done. Also, the state has to consider their own liability in this - in a litigation-happy society, some dink would sue the state for allowing him to do this without proper safety gear.

As for the 5 mph speed differential -- no, you can't exactly tell and neither can the neighborhood cop unless he has some pretty fancy targeting radar. Think of this a common sense approach - don't be flying past people. Yeah, you might make some hothead mad. But the much more common situation is the person who just didn't see you because you weren't there a second ago, who's trying to position himself to jump lanes. Youtube is littered with videos of accidents that happened exactly that way. Whether the car you bang into chops you accidentally or deliberately makes little difference; it's still gonna hurt a bunch!

I'm not comfortable with lane splitting myself and if this passes, I'm gonna be the foxhole chicken who lets others try it out first. But in my mind, these are the right circumstances under which to allow it.
 
rapz said:
I asked Representative Munoz to file the bill and I've been working with the Governmental Liaison of the AMA as well. It's a start, something good. We need to get it out of Calendars Committee and assigned so that it can go to hearings. At that time is when we need support for the bill. The AMA has 15,000 members in Texas and they can broadcast an email to all members so as to mobilize support. Senator Kirk Watson will be filing a companion bill on the Senate side. If you want to help email me at ricardo@rapzconsulting.com Thanks!
Click to expand...

Good for you! :clap::clap::clap:

Curious though, is the AMA really backing this bill? They have a consistent track record over the years of not backing any legislature that attaches a mandatory helmet requirement to it. Is the plan to get the bill onto the floors for discussion and then strip the helmet requirement out later before it goes for a vote?

_
 
That's right, the AMA does not support any helmet law so I'm working on stripping that from the bill. The Senate version will not have that language.
 
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