Lane Splitting SB506 [mega merge]

[L8RG8R]

I've done it a few times in Texas and had no problems. My first time was coming thorugh Austin on a weekday at rush hour. I was following a friend of mine that lives in LA. He couldn't take it anymore and shot up the middle. I followed...


So...my understanding is the guy that helped put together the proposed legislation last year has now moved out of state. Does anyone know someone that can get this ball rolling again? Are we too late to do anything for this session? I would love to see lane sharing legal in Texas, especially when its 2 bazillion degrees outside.

Anyone?

[MotoMarkDFW]

The lanes and drivers in Dallas are not a good mix for lane-splitting. I was in completely stopped traffic on the high five in Dallas and tried a split and a car saw me coming and tried to close the opening just as I got there. His only intent was damage & injury as he did this fast and timed it for the last moment. He did not get me, but it pissed me off.

I left Massachusetts in 1986, but used to lane-split in Boston daily. I never knew of the legality of it, but the Boston MC Cops (all on Harleys) did it regularly and had no problem when other bikers joined the line! The cagers were very co-operative back then, which was surprising as they are very cut-throat against other cagers!

Have a great weekend, y'all!

[Texas T]

Originally Posted by l8rg8r

So...my understanding is the guy that helped put together the proposed legislation last year has now moved out of state. Does anyone know someone that can get this ball rolling again? Are we too late to do anything for this session? I would love to see lane sharing legal in Texas, especially when its 2 bazillion degrees outside. Anyone?

Cycle Cat moved to NM and the legislator that he was working for retired. The legislator introduced the legislation at CC's behest; it never got out of committee so there really isn't a lot of interest in this on the part of the legislature as a whole.

Meeting once every two years means they really need to prioritize what the most important legislation needs to be that session (or take care of the best campaign fund donors - whichever comes first).

Yes, it is too late to do something this year. If you want to push this, you need to start working your magic now so that it's a viable campaign that they can all get behind in the next session.

[flb_78]

im not sure that it is illegal...from AMA's website....oh, and yes ive lanesplit...

Lane Splitting Not referenced in Administrative Code or Statutes

http://home.ama-cycle.org/amaccess/l...t.asp?state=tx

[The Bruce]

So, once all the bikes have moved up to the front of the line, what happens when the light turns green? Is it a full throttle race off the line? It might look like some of the videos of traffic in Asia where there are hundreds of bikes weaving in and out of traffice at will. Doesn't seem very safe to do that here.

[CycleCat]

Originally Posted by l8rg8r

Does anyone know someone that can get this ball rolling again? Are we too late to do anything for this session? I would love to see lane sharing legal in Texas, especially when its 2 bazillion degrees outside.

Anyone?

Texas T is right about it being too late. After the 60th day of session a legislator can't introduce a new bill (except one with purely local scope... such as related to a MUD or hospital district) unless he gets permission through an affirmative vote of 4/5ths of the members present (that would be 120 of 150 House members). This isn't a priority for most of them, so they are unlikely to give that permission.

Best thing to do is find a cycle-friendly legislator or badger your legislator to introduce the bill early in the next session. They can use HB 1522 from the 79th Session as a template from which to start (this makes it MUCH easier to convince them to do it, when they don't have to start from scratch with an original bill).

If I was still there in TX, I assure you I would still be pushing this. I hardly see the need in most of NM though, but I'm sure some of our Albuquerque members would disagree.

[KenH]

If you want to get involved in politics, make sure it is for something worthwhile, like dealing with the education financing mess in a fair and equitable manner or refocusing CPS on taking care of children who actually need help and keeping the better-than-yous off good families who are only picked on because they are easy to drag through the system so a worker looks busy. There are much more serious issues that need to be addressed than lane-splitting.

[Skid]

Originally Posted by CHP

Can motorcycle riders "split" lanes and ride between other vehicles?

Lane splitting by motorcycles is permissible but must be done in a safe and prudent manner.

Taken from the CHP website. http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/answers.html

Skid

[whoa]

Originally Posted by CBAT

full throttle race off the line?

Most motorcycles accelerate better than most cars without much effort. Being first away from a signal helps set the rider between packs of traffic.

[badzx14r]

Originally Posted by KenH

If you want to get involved in politics, make sure it is for something worthwhile, like dealing with the education financing mess in a fair and equitable manner or refocusing CPS on taking care of children who actually need help and keeping the better-than-yous off good families who are only picked on because they are easy to drag through the system so a worker looks busy. There are much more serious issues that need to be addressed than lane-splitting.

let me see property taxes at a all time high... new schools on every block football fields, baseball fields... and you telling me its a mess.... i think the schools get to much money already for nothin and kids are no smarter than back in 1950..

[Texas T]

Originally Posted by KenH

There are much more serious issues that need to be addressed than lane-splitting.

While your pursuits are admirable, it is up to each person to decide whether or not their issue is serious enough to be addressed.

[CycleCat]

Ken,
I understand where you are coming from. Those are important issues. But before we turn this into a political debate, let me just say that precisely because of the importance of those issues, it is MUCH more difficult to get a bunch of legislators to agree on HOW to fix them. It is a much easier time getting them to agree on what to have for lunch.

Just because an issue is smaller than the BIG issues doesn't mean it shouldn't be dealt with. And everyone involved benefits from acheiving a few small sucesses before tackling the big problems... even a politician. Additionally, even though an issue may be small to one person, it might be the MOST important issue to another. I don't mean that about lane splitting necessarily, but any of the legislation that someone might identify as "fluff" bills that come through the legislature.

[KenH]

Has anyone done any studies about lane splitting and crash rates? If lane splitting corrolates to reduced crash rates, there is a a good chance lane splitting can be legalized. Just asking isn't going to get it. Numbers talk.

[Larry_77084]

Originally Posted by KenH

If you want to get involved in politics, make sure it is for something worthwhile, like dealing with the education financing mess in a fair and equitable manner or refocusing CPS on taking care of children who actually need help and keeping the better-than-yous off good families who are only picked on because they are easy to drag through the system so a worker looks busy. There are much more serious issues that need to be addressed than lane-splitting.

Your education dollars being spent carefully to give our children the best education possible. I give you the Berry Center

[1TallTXn]

Originally Posted by Larry_77084

Your education dollars being spent carefully to give our children the best education possible. I give you the Berry Center

all that and our kids are STILL the lowest on the list when compared among other nations

[L8RG8R]

Originally Posted by KenH

Has anyone done any studies about lane splitting and crash rates?

I don't have the time to look it up right now, but I believe the HURT report found that motorcyclists were much safer when being able to continuously move through heavy stop and go traffic. I'll try to look it up later today, but right now I've got a room to finish painting, an egg hunt to put on, and some motorcycling to do.

[Texas T]

Originally Posted by l8rg8r

I don't have the time to look it up right now, but I believe the HURT report found that motorcyclists were much safer when being able to continuously move through heavy stop and go traffic.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lane splitting, lane sharing, or lane filtering is the controversial practice of operating a vehicle, most commonly a motorcycle, in the unused space between vehicles.

Lane splitting prevents overheating by allowing an air cooled motorcycle to continue moving even when traffic is stopped. Opponents criticize the maneuver, questioning the danger it poses to other vehicles and the motorcyclist. Proponents state that the practice relives congestion by removing commuters from cars and gets them to utilize the unused lanes between that cars. The Hurt Report[1] concluded that lane splitting reduces rear end crashes and improves motorcycle safety. FARS data from the Department of Transportation shows that rear end collisions with motorcycles are 30% lower in California than in Florida or Texas, states with similar riding seasons and populations.[2]

[Texas T]

FROM: http://www.whybike.com/blog/index.php?p=147

I could only get a complete set for 2005 from FARS so all data is from that year.

Percentage of fatalities resulting from a vehicle rear ending a motorcycle in:
Alabama: 11.9%
Arizona: 8.6%
California: 5.4%
Florida: 7.6%
Georgia: 0*
Louisiana: 5.7%*
Mississippi: 19.2%*
South Carolina: 10.2%
Texas: 9.7%

* Small data pool, results may be skewed.
States selected have a similar riding season.

If you look at just the largest states and only accidents that happened on the highway:

California: 6.0 rear-end fatalities/billion miles ridden on the highway
Florida: 9.0 rear-end fatalities/billion miles ridden on the highway
Texas: 9.4 rear-end fatalities/billion miles ridden on the highway

Is this because California drivers are especially careful? Or maybe they are more aware of the vehicles around them. Maybe Florida and Texas are much more congested. Percentage of fatalities resulting from a vehicle rear ending a passenger car:

California: 11.0%
Florida: 9.7%
Texas: 11.6%

So Californians are rear-ending cars and killing people at a similar rate as other states, but are not rear-ending motorcycles at as much as other states. This leaves me to ask, are there other factors influencing this trend? Are motorcyclists in the Golden state more visible than other states? Are the roads somehow safer for motorcyclists? Or is our unique ability to share lanes and not wait to be sandwiched by an inattentive driver helping us survive better than our out-of-state brethren? Here are the total fatality rates for these three largest states for multi-vehicle front-impact accidents of motorcycles:

California: 49.4 fatalities/billion miles ridden
Florida: 48.7 fatalities/billion miles ridden
Texas: 51.5 fatalities/billion miles ridden

So it looks like Californian bikers are fatally crashing into vehicles in front of them at the same rate as other states, but are not being rear-ended at the same rate. This leads me to believe that sharing lanes has a positive impact on preventing rear-end motorcycle fatalities, and a negligible effect on total fatalities. Insurance rates should be lower in California, not higher, although 3 fatalities for one billion miles seems like a small amount when spread over the large populations of insured drivers. Another conclusion from the Hurt Report was that less than 10% of riders did not have liability or health insurance, far below the national average of 30% for auto drivers. Let me know if there are alternatives to this conclusion, I can’t think of any.


More Lane Sharing articles/info:
http://www.whybike.com/motorcycle274.htm

http://www.whybike.com/motorcycle164.htm

http://www.whybike.com/motorcycle5.htm

[P-Ratt]

That's a good bit of promo there.

[rocketbunny]

Originally Posted by CBAT

So, once all the bikes have moved up to the front of the line, what happens when the light turns green? Is it a full throttle race off the line? It might look like some of the videos of traffic in Asia where there are hundreds of bikes weaving in and out of traffice at will. Doesn't seem very safe to do that here.

Actually, what usually happens is that when you get up to the front, you try to pick a side and nudge the bike in front of the car on that side. When the light turns green, you quickly look to make sure you're not going to be splatted by a red light runner and then take off with a motorcycle's characteristic superior acceleration, thus not slowing down the other vehicle at all. It's only a race off the line if you've screwed up.

If there is no room at the front, lots of riders will just nudge in behind the first car and go second.