A bill authorizing the California Highway Patrol to set hard guidelines for “lane splitting,” motorcycles making way between lanes of traffic, passed through the state assembly with a 69-0 vote. Once Governor Jerry Brown signs it, which is expected, CA will be the first state with formally legal lane splitting. 
 
 
 
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 While never explicitly legal or illegal, California cops and motorcyclists have maintained a tacit understanding about lane splitting– it’s allowed, within reason. Putter through gridlocked cars and they won’t raise an eyebrow. Bash somebody’s side-mirror off at full noise and the cops might decide to come after you. 
 
 But as the LA Times reports, the public started making noise when the CHP tried to publish “safe strategies on the practice.” Seems like the main complaint was against the idea of the police creating laws, but regardless, the bill “AB 51” has now been kicked around since December of 2014 regarding the regulation of lane splitting. 
 
 
 
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 The bill supposedly started out specifying that a biker could split lanes “only when a motorcycle was moving no more than 15 miles per hour faster than the traffic around it, and it prohibited the practice at speeds above 50 mph” but this language was shot down my motorcycle enthusiast groups. As it stands, the bill “provides a basic definition of ‘lane’ and leaves the rest to the CHP,” the LA Times explains. 
 
 Once the bill is passed into law, which local news outlets seem to think is likely, we’ll have to wait and see how specific the CHP decides to be with their guidelines. As far as I’ve observed in a few months of living in Los Angeles, the cops are pretty blasé about the practice as long as the biker doesn’t have their cell phone out or engine pegged on the rev limiter (I’ve seen both.) 
 
 I will also say that splitting lanes isn’t for everyone. The canyons of swaying cars can be pretty intimidating, even on a bike as tall as my Yamaha WR. But it definitely makes a motorized two-wheeler the second fastest way around the city in rush hour by a long shot. ||||| For drivers, perhaps one of the more alarming sights on the road can be a motorcycle squeezing past them, by riding in between lanes of moving or stopped traffic on a busy highway. 
 
 For bikers, lane splitting eases their concerns are about being rear-ended by a distracted driver, who doesn't see the motorcycle ahead of them in stop-and-go traffic on a highway. 
 
 Whether you call it lane splitting, white lining or filtering, is the practice legal in New Jersey? 
 
 That question was posed by a reader who encountered a motorcycle lane splitting on the New Jersey Turnpike Hudson County extension. 
 
 "They are very dangerous when you try to change lanes," he wrote. 
 
 Q: Is it legal for motorcycles to "lane split" or ride in between lanes of traffic? 
 
 A: The answer is somewhat unclear. While New Jersey doesn't have a law on the books forbidding it, the practice isn't encouraged. 
 
 New Jersey's state driver's manual warns bikers against "lane sharing" with another vehicle and specifically says "do not ride in between rows of stopped vehicles." 
 
 Police can cite riders for failure to keep right, if they lane split, said Anthony Parenti, executive director of the New Jersey Traffic Officers Association. A former motorcyclist himself, Parenti said he used to lane split at traffic lights to save time, but refrained from doing it on highways for safety reasons. 
 
 One danger of lane splitting on busy highways and interstates, is that a driver who decides to change lanes may not see a motorcycle, he said. 
 
 Why do bikers lane split? Motorcycle advocacy groups cite safety reasons for lane splitting. Riders who endorse the practice cite efficiency, fuel economy and not adding to traffic congestion as reasons for doing it. 
 
 
 
 The American Motorcyclist Association says that stop and go traffic is the most dangerous situation for motorcyclists because they are surrounded by drivers of larger vehicles, who may not see them. The AMA cited a motorcycle crash study that said 59 percent of collisions happen in moderate to heavy traffic. 
 
 A May 2015 University of California at Berkley study concluded "motorcyclists who split lanes in heavy traffic are significantly less likely to be struck from behind by other motorists, are less likely to suffer head or torso injuries, and are less likely to sustain fatal injuries in a crash." 
 
 
 
 Even the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seems to be split about the topic. While not endorsing it, a NHTSA motorcycle safety website said that lane splitting can offer an escape route for motorcycles who might be hit from behind and said that the practice needs further study. 
 
 Another group, the Motorcycle Industry Council, said it supports state laws that allow lane splitting with reasonable restrictions. No bills have been proposed in the state to make lane splitting legal, however an online petition to make it legal in New Jersey received over 700 signatures. 
 
 Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook. ||||| Motorcycles splitting lanes on California roads is technically neither legal nor illegal, and some riders said it’s necessary. 
 
 "We do it to be safe ourselves, especially with all the guys on the cellphones not paying attention,” said Matt Hemworth, who started riding motorcycles a few years ago. 
 
 "We have to lane split because sometimes our motorcycles overheat. That's what it's built for is to go and not stand still in traffic like cars,” motorcyclist Greg Tate said. 
 
 The California Assembly unanimously green-lighted AB 51 on Thursday. The bill would give the California Highway Patrol the authority to establish parameters for safe lane splitting, like speed limits while passing between cars. 
 
 Now, it's headed to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk. 
 
 "We recognize there are people who do it safely and some who don't, so anything to make our roads safer is what Assemblyman Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) strongly believes,” said Tomasa Dueñas, Chief of Staff for Quirk, who helped work on the bill. “We should do something that takes us in that direction.” 
 
 Lane splitting is illegal in every state except California, and AB 51 would make California the first state to create formal guidelines about lane splitting. 
 
 “It would be good to have some kind of structure,” said Larry Lovisone, who has been riding for 50 years. “Every time I'm stopped by CHP, they have a different idea of lane splitting.” 
 
 CHP tried to post guidelines on its website in 2013, but a lone citizen from Sacramento put the brakes on it. 
 
 “Someone filed a complaint,” Dueñas said. “Because of that complaint, everything had to be scratched. The guidelines had to be removed from their website." 
 
 The bill does not spell out what conditions CHP should consider. But riders hope if signed, it will lead to new guidelines that give them the green light to continue to split safely. 
 
 “If we can cut between the cars to keep us safer, I say go for it,” Hemsworth said. “If the law is meant to protect the rider, I say go for it.” ||||| SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California may become the first state to explicitly allow motorcycles to weave between stalled cars in traffic. 
 
 The Assembly on Thursday approved legislation permitting lane-splitting. 
 
 Bikers who navigate congested roads by driving through the middle of lanes are in a legal gray area in California, though law enforcement has permitted the practice. Other states explicitly ban lane-splitting. 
 
 Assemblymen Bill Quirk of Hayward and Tom Lackey of Palmdale say the practice should be legal so the state can offer safety guidance. 
 
 Their bill, AB51, says motorcycles must drive below 50 miles an hour when splitting lanes. 
 
 It is supported by law enforcement groups. The American Motorcyclist Association opposes AB51 in favor of less strict rules. 
 
 The bill heads to the Senate after passing on a 53 to 11 vote, without debate.
– Lane-splitting—where motorcycles pass other cars in traffic by cruising in between—might soon be legal in at least one state: California. The state's Assembly unanimously passed a bill Thursday giving the California Highway Patrol authority to create guidelines for the practice, reports the Los Angeles Times. The bill, which would make California the first state to give the official OK to lane-splitting, has kept things vague, simply defining what a "lane" is and directing the CHP to fill in the blanks. The bill's original wording would've allowed the practice only if a motorcycle was going less than 50mph and not more than 15mph faster than traffic, but the specifics were later removed before passage. While critics say lane-splitting is dangerous for all involved, advocates cite several reasons for why zipping between cars is desirable: It saves fuel for bikers, cuts down on traffic congestion, and even keeps motorcycles from overheating, as the bikes aren't designed to sit in traffic, one biker tells KCRA. "It definitely makes a motorized two-wheeler the second fastest way around the city in rush hour by a long shot," Andrew Collins writes for Jalopnik. And it could even spare motorcyclists from injury: NJ.com says motorcycle groups and a University of California at Berkeley study point out that stop-and-go traffic can be dangerous for bikers because drivers in big cars may not spot them.