Northwest Cycle Report

Two bills before the Washington State Legislature would make lane sharing, aka splitting, legal under certain circumstances. According to the Washington Road Riders Association, the bills have some excellent support in the house and senate.

If passed the law would allow motorcyclists to split lanes whenever the speed of traffic is less than half the posted speed limit. Motorcyclists speed would be limited to no more than 10 mph over the pace of surrounding traffic.

The senate version of the bill is SB5985 and the house version is HB2160. If lane splitting is important to you, you might want to drop your representative a line and encourage them to support the bill. Drop a note to the WRRA as well; they are an effective voice for motorcyclists in Olympia.

As a recovering Californian, I practiced lane splitting for several years. I can tell you that it is not for the faint of heart. While it certainly shortened my commute, many are the times that a driver would see me coming and move over to squeeze the narrow alley between lanes. Or time the disposal of a lit cigarette just so. Then there are those drivers who don’t look or signal at all before changing lanes. You must be at peak awareness to split lanes.

There were many days when I knew my mental alertness level was not up to the challenge. On those days I stayed in my lane and let others go by; sometimes at very high speed. (Lane splitting through stopped traffic at 60 mph is not a recipe for long life.) Know your limits and ride within them.

Like anything else, done responsibly; and I feel the conditions described in the proposed legislation meet that criteria, lane splitting can ease traffic congestion and get motorcyclists out of the “crunch zone” between vehicles in stop and go traffic. Done poorly; too fast, too aggressively; and it will become yet another wedge between motorcyclists and drivers. The key is education and responsibility.