This story is taken from News at sacbee.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back-seat driver: Drivers, motorcyclists split on sharing lane space
By Tony Bizjak -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, October 10, 2005
"Lane splitting," where motorcyclists straddle lane lines to pass cars in traffic, is one hot topic.
We wrote last week that lane splitting is allowed in California and immediately we were overrun with more than 50 e-mails and calls.
Plenty of car drivers were upset the CHP doesn't do anything about motorcyclists sliding into their blind spots with just inches between their car and the car in the next lane.
"If anyone were to put it to a vote, I have no doubt people would vote to outlaw it. Overwhelmingly," Lincoln resident Ralph Pease wrote.
Motorcyclists counter there are worse dangers, such as cars changing lanes without signaling.
"There is no safety issue if done correctly by a capable rider," Steve Martinez wrote. "Those who don't like lane splitting are jealous because they are stuck in crummy California traffic."
Motorcycle commuter Kurt Sunderbruch points out lane splitting allows cyclists to avoid being rear-ended. "An impact that might give an auto driver a sore neck can cripple or kill me."
Surprisingly, California may be the only state that allows lane splitting. Transportation safety officials and motorcyclists we talked to say they aren't aware of any other state that permits it.
Nevada law, for instance, reads: "A person, except a police officer ... shall not drive a motorcycle or moped between moving or stationary vehicles occupying adjacent traffic lanes."
The California DMV Motorcycle Handbook warns: "Riding between rows of stopped or moving cars in the same lane can leave you vulnerable."
How vulnerable? We know this much: Two weeks ago, a motorcyclist was killed on Watt Avenue while lane splitting. He clipped a big rig and fell under the big rig in the next lane.
And last week, a motorcyclist was seriously injured on Hazel Avenue, California Highway Patrol officials said, when he hit a bus while lane-splitting cars that had stopped for the bus.
But the CHP doesn't keep statistics on lane splitting. And federal highway safety officials and insurance industry safety researchers say they know of no studies focused on the topic.
A motorcyclist suggested checking with private researcher Harry Hurt in Southern California. Hurt told us he holds the scientific position that lane splitting cannot cause accidents because it merely refers to the place on the road the motorcyclist is traveling. Instead, his studies indicate most crashes are caused by car drivers not seeing motorcyclists.
But several motorcyclists told us they aren't comfortable lane splitting for just that reason: It puts them in spots where some motorists won't see them.
Some readers argued that vehicle code sections 21658(a) and 22350 allow officers to ticket lane splitters, if they choose to.
VC 21658(a)reads: "A vehicle shall be driven as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane and shall not be moved from the lane until such movement can be made with reasonable safety."
VC 22350 states: "No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent ..."
But local CHP spokesman Max Hartley says 21658(a) allows officers to stop lane splitters only if they force a driver to take evasive action. Section 22350 does, however, influence the CHP's "unwritten" lane-splitting rule: If you go more than 10 mph faster than the cars, the CHP might ticket you.
We see another reason the CHP may not mind lane splitting. Its motorcycle officers do it themselves when responding to calls. That's one of the reasons they use motorcycles in urban areas.
Clearly, lane splitting poses dangers. Two serious Sacramento accidents in two weeks make that point. But a lot of things on the road pose dangers. Cell phone use, for one. A solid study homing in on lane-splitting crashes in California would be instructive.
