Lane Splitting Guidance from the California Highway Patrol
- Lane Splitting Safety Tips: new guidelines, issued September 27th, 2018. These are the new tips from the CHP, thanks to AB 51, which replace the original lane splitting guidelines.
- CHP Lane Splitting Guidelines: The original California Highway Patrol Lane Splitting General Guidelines: “Lane splitting in a safe and prudent manner is not illegal in the state of California.”
- CHP Lane Splitting Brochure: This brochure was distributed by the CHP to help publicize the lane splitting guidelines.
Bay Area Riders Forum Lane Splitting Guidelines
- In November 2017, the Bay Area Riders Forum released its own lane splitting / filtering / sharing guidelines, a more comprehensive set of recommendations for riders, by riders.
Lane Splitting Research, Studies & Papers
- Motorcycle Lane-splitting and Safety in California: 2015 release of OTS / SafeTREC study, with updated analysis of data from the California Enhanced Motorcycle Collision Data Project.
- OTS Lane Sharing Surveys
- 2014: Motorcycle Lane-Share Study Among California Motorcyclists and Drivers 2014 & Comparison to 2012 and 2013 Data – Third installment of the OTS lane sharing survey.
- 2013: Motorcycle Lane-Share Study Among California Motorcyclists and Drivers 2013 & Comparison to 2012 Data – Update to the original 2012 lane sharing survey. Click through for analysis, data tables and full survey PDF.
- 2012: Motorcycle Lane Share Study Among California Motorcyclists and Drivers 2012 (PDF) – conducted on Behalf Of The California Office of Traffic Safety
- OTS / SafeTREC study: Safety Implications of Lane-splitting Among California Motorcyclists Involved in Collisions – by Thomas Rice and Lara Troszak. This study summarizes an analysis of preliminary data from the California Enhanced Motorcycle Collision Data Project.
- Commuting by Motorcycle Impact Analysis (PDF) : Belgian study from 2012, assessing the benefits of motorcycle commuters for all drivers and traffic.
- Lane Splitting on California Freeways (PDF): excellent study of lane splitting in California by James Ouellet, who worked on the Hurt Report.
- Oregon Department of Transportation ‘MOTORCYCLE LANE-SHARING’ Literature Review (PDF)
- Lane Sharing: A Global Solution for Motorcycle Safety (PDF): paper by Steve Guderian examining the safety benefits of lane splitting. Includes a comparison of motorcycle rear end accidents in California versus comparable states, finding that “Motorcycle rear-end impact deaths as a percentage of all motorcycle deaths is quite a bit higher than the all-vehicle rear-end impact percentage in Florida (12.7% vs. 8.5%), Texas (10.8% vs. 7.5%), and the US (9.0% vs. 6.2%). In California, the percentages(8.5% vs. 7.3%) are closer, and they are lower than the comparison states.“
- Lane Sharing as a Motorcycle Safety Practice; A Further Evaluation: another paper by Steve Guderian, a follow-up to Lane Sharing: A Global Solution for Motorcycle Safety.
- Motorcycle Industry Council Position on Lane Splitting (PDF): Official position statement in support of lane splitting issued by the MIC in 2011. “In full consideration of the risks and benefits of lane splitting, the Motorcycle Industry Council supports state laws that allow lane splitting under reasonable restrictions.” Includes lane splitting guidelines that are similar to the CHP guidelines, although less specific and a bit more lenient.
From the American Motorcyclist Association
- Lane Splitting Position Statement: “Given the ongoing success of lane splitting in California and the recent enthusiasm for lane splitting and/or filtering in other states, the AMA endorses these practices and will assist groups and individuals working to bring legal lane splitting and/or filtering to their states.”
- State motorcycle laws: comprehensive AMA resource page with motorcycle laws – including lane splitting – by state. Includes on- and off-road information.
- Pro-splitting articles in American Motorcyclist magazine: the fine folks at the AMA have provided us PDFs of some great articles in the members-only AMA mag.
Links & Such
- LaneShare.org: “A grass-roots collaborative effort by motorcyclists and motorcycle safety professionals to promote lanesharing.” Lots of great information.
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lane splitting issue statement: “Although lane splitting is allowed in just a few areas of the United States, notably California, it appears to be worthy of further study because it offers a means of reducing congestion in addition to possible safety benefits. It is widely used in many other countries.”
- RideToWork.org: “501 c4 non-profit organization, advocating and supporting the use of motorcycles and scooters for transportation, and providing information about everyday utility riding to the public.”
- Old CityBike article from 1997, “Lane Splitting 101” reproduced on a website that looks to be from about the same time.
Have a link that should be here? Please send it in and we’ll add it.
