California Gears Up For Lane-Splitting..

[MotoGoosy]

http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/california-gears-up-to-legalize-motorcycle-lane-splitting/

[Railroad Bob]

I guess they are just going ahead and "codifying" it, since it wasn't generally ticketed very often if it was done "safely."
I know it's a hotbutton emotional issue for some.  Personally, I don't like doing it (I'm in SoCal.) But, if the traffic is dead stopped,
I'll do it very slowly and carefully, wave thanks if anyone moves over a bit to make more room, etc.  As soon as the flow starts
back up, I move back into the lane.  Yes, there are those riders who blast through at 60+ mph; it's crazy and dangerous.
Oh well, let the debates begin...  By the way, CHP officers do it all the time to get to the scenes of accidents, etc.  And of course
it's all over Europe; they call it "filtering" I think.

[Dilliw]

What a waste of paper given that it's been in practice at least since I lived out there in the 80's.  The article talks about getting rear ended but the 2 close calls I had were always someone thinking there is a hole in the next lane and making an aggressive move to fill it.

[Mark West]

I think it's great they are finally putting some rules on it and I hope they enforce them. I expect that people that follow the simple rules of no more than 15MPH greater than traffic will have very few incidents and won't piss off many drivers.

As it is, here in Norcal, almost nobody works within those limits. As crazy as some of them are, I'm surprised there aren't far more fatalities. Perhaps with some definition of what is legal, riders will be a little more responsible...or maybe they will after they get a ticket or two.

[not-fishing]

As a Californian I say Great!

Hopefully it will cut down on Road Rage here.

After the two drivers transitioned from I-5 to eastbound State Route 54 and passed National City Boulevard, Jackson hit the Ducati from behind and ran over the rider, CHP officers said.

The motorcyclist — identified by friends as 39-year-old Zachary Buob — died about an hour later at a hospital. A Santee resident, Buob was an active duty Chief Petty Officer in the Navy's special operations.
Jackson was arrested and now faces one count of murder in what officers are calling a road rage incident. She was booked into Las Colinas Detention and Re-entry Facility and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.


Source: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Woman-Accused-of-Running-Down-Motorcyclist-in-Road-Rage-Killing-CHP-305502841.html#ixzz3bviWvKZw

[canuguzzi]

California is just letting everyone know it is legal and then putting clearly defined boundaries on the practice. This will clear up insurance claims because even though it is legal to do, like speeding, there are limits which if exceeded, shift the liability from one party to the other.

If a few get ticketed for blasting through stopped traffic at 60 mph then it might go a long way to making everything safer. It will make catching the jerks who abuse things quite easy. If traffic is stop and go or no go, then anyone can call it in quickly and the fool will be caught.

After this you'll see lane splitting becoming legal in more states I think.

[Doppelgaenger]

The fact that this is now getting codified isn't a service to california, it's a service to the other 49 states. With a legal precedent that shows how it should be done, and knowing that it works, other states will be able to follow suit without coming up with stupid ideas like the current washington state proposal.