It's about time to make lane splitting illegal.

So many productive hours lost by individuals when we keep getting hung up with all these motorcycle fatalities. I get that they have to investigate fatalities, and never let us forget someone's loved one has died, but also, our local economy takes a big hit during those delays.

I agree that lane splitting should be illegal. It will reduce deaths, the primary motivation, and it will also lessen the impact on us all and on our local economy.

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I gave up my Bike a long time ago after a few close calls. Not worth the risk.

Gee, how thoughtful of you. Go around picketing at funerals as well?

Lane splitting does not need to be illegal, but it does need to be done at slow speed and with great caution by the rider. I had a conversation with a Palo Alto motorcycle cop a few years ago, and he said that it can be worse for a rider to sit in a line of traffic breathing in the fumes from stationary cars, as it can make them lightheaded. Yes, I am a motorcyclist.

The primary reason why riders lane-split in bumper-to-bumper traffic has nothing to do with saving gas or improving traffic flow, or not breathing car exhaust. It is done for safety. A recent study done at UC Berkeley proved what most riders know, that motorcyclists who split lanes in heavy traffic are significantly less likely to be struck from behind by other motorists and less likely to suffer head or torso injuries. Researchers, led by Dr. Thomas Rice of the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center, reviewed nearly 6,000 motorcycle-involved collisions between 6/2012 and 8/2013, including 997 in which the riders were splitting lanes at the time of the crash. Click here to download the report: Web Link

Many drivers are distracted, by texting, talking on the phone, and other non-driving focused activities. If a car rear-ends another car in stop & go traffic, it’s a fender-bender. If a car rear-ends a bike, it can be fatal.

The unfortunate rider who died in this accident was not safely lane-splitting, which consists of moving no more than 10-15 mph faster than traffic between the lines of cars. As a rider for 44 years, who has always safely split lanes in stop & go traffic, I too am a non-fan of the bozos who split lanes at 80 mph. It is very unsafe, unless one can always predict that drivers will behave safely and sanely. But the answer is not to make lane-splitting illegal, but rather to have the legislature pass the proposed law that dictates no more than a 15 mph differential to the flow of traffic. Meaning no faster than 15 mph if traffic is stopped.

Basically, the ONLY people who support and defend lane-splitting are those WHO RIDE MOTORCYCLES and WHO LANE SPLIT! ... what is REALLY happening here is that they are (in the language of my generation) TAKING CUTS through traffic instead of waiting their turns LIKE EVERBODY WHO ISN'T RIDING A MOTORCYCLE ... these arrogant lane-splitters feel superior in some way and believe that the traffic laws shouldn't apply to EVERYBODY ... because YOU are on two wheels doesn't mean that YOU don't have to wait your turn and that YOU are entitled to create havoc on the freeways while you swerve and wind your way through traffic instead of showing some patience and self-control and waiting your turn ...

@Zap,
Two points: 1) Apparently you did not read my post, nor the study I cited (and provided a link to) that demonstrates that "sane" lane splitting is significantly safer than not splitting. And 2) Your primary contention is incorrect, because at least one of the researchers who conducted/authored the research report is not a rider, yet he supports the legality of lane-splitting (based on data, as opposed to your emotion-based viewpoint).

I think that despite the fact that I drive far more than I ride, that one of the benefits is that I view riders of both motorcycles and bicycles as humans, people like you and me. So just like when I see some irresponsible driver tail-gating or cutting into traffic without signalling or speeding or texting or doing their nails while driving I don't condemn ALL drivers, so to when I see some (usually young male) jerk doing unsafe lane-splitting at high speed, or a bicyclist who blows through a red light, I don't condemn all riders.

Safe lane-splitting, in which it only legal for riders to go less than 15 mph faster than the fastest flow of traffic on either side, actually improves traffic flow (in addition to being safer for riders in stop-and-go traffic). When a non-splitting rider gets rear-ended, in addition to carrying a high risk of trauma or death for the rider, tends to have a major negative impact on traffic flow.

Lighten up, be an attentive driver, and drive safely. And remember that the rider you see (or don't see) could be your physician, a cop, a pastor, or a relative of yours.

Thank you, Cancerfoe, well said.