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California Lane Splitting Overview Surj Gish - August 2014 Slide 2 California Lane Splitting Overview - August 2014 2014 LaneSplittingIsLegal.com Lane Splitting in California What is lane splitting? Lets talk legality & legislation Why split lanes? But isnt it dangerous? How to split lanes the smart way Whats the status of splitting in California? OTS 2014 Lane Share Survey Preview Slide 3 California Lane Splitting Overview - August 2014 2014 LaneSplittingIsLegal.com What is Lane Splitting? CHP definitions: Splitting: a process whereby a vehicle moves between stopped or slower moving traffic in a safe and reasonable manner. Sharing: two vehicles, moving or static, which are side by side within the same lane. Filtering: a vehicle slowly moving between stopped traffic to reach the front. In other words: riding between cars. Slide 4 California Lane Splitting Overview - August 2014 2014 LaneSplittingIsLegal.com Legality & Legislation Legal in California only. SB 350 proposed by Senator Jim Beall would have limited splitting to certain circumstancesbill abandoned to evaluate how well the guidelines work and as well as their effectiveness, which may obviate the need for any legislation. Recent legislation in Nevada (AB236) nearly passed. Bills in other states havent made it out of committee. Lane splitting is common and accepted in much of the rest of the world. Slide 5 California Lane Splitting Overview - August 2014 2014 LaneSplittingIsLegal.com Why Split Lanes? Riders who split lanes are nearly immune to trafficwe get to our destinations more quickly. Splitting helps prevent rear end crashes. Hypothetical reduction in commute times for all road users. A Belgian analysis found that replacing 10% of traffic with motorcycles could reduce traffic congestion by a much higher percentage. Its fun! (dont tell anyone I said this) Slide 6 California Lane Splitting Overview - August 2014 2014 LaneSplittingIsLegal.com But Isnt it Dangerous? Splitting lanes removes some risks, and adds othersrisk management is paramount. OTS-funded SafeTREC study found that lane splitting crashes result in fewer and less severe injuries than overall average across all motorcycle crashes. Half the average fatality rate: 1.5% vs 3% Head injury: 9.4% vs 16.3% overall average No injury: 32% versus 18.9% overall average ZERO reported fatalities of rider was adhering to CHP guidelines Slide 7 California Lane Splitting Overview - August 2014 2014 LaneSplittingIsLegal.com How to Split Lanes the Smart Way Its simple! The CHP guidelines provided a very good place to start. Maintain 360 degree awareness at all times. Take it easydont rush. Youre already going faster than traffic. Keep your speed differential reasonable. A 10 MPH delta is a good guideline. Dont split when traffic is moving quickly. Be a good ambassador! Slide 8 California Lane Splitting Overview - August 2014 2014 LaneSplittingIsLegal.com Status Update CHP guidelines have been taken down due to a petition to the Office of Administrative Law stating that CHP was creating underground regulations. CHP says they remain committed to rider safety and will not make any changes to enforcement around lane splitting. No legislation on the horizon, that we know of. Lack of CHP guidelines leaves a vacuumno official POV to reference. More than ever, its important to be a good ambassador. Slide 9 California Lane Splitting Overview - August 2014 2014 LaneSplittingIsLegal.com 2014 OTS Lane Share Survey Preview 71.4% of riders surveyed split on roads other than freeways, a 10.3% increase compared to 2013. 62.1% of riders split on both freeways and other roadways, an increase of 7.5% compared to the 2013. There was a marked reduction in the number of riders splitting at speed differentials over 15 MPH. 60.7% of drivers now state that lane splitting on freeways is legal, a significant increase of 5.2% in the awareness of the lane-splitting legality over 2013. Driver perception of lane-splitting legality on multiple-lane roads (non-freeway) has significantly increased by 8.3% between 2013 and 2014, from 44.0% to 52.3%. However, while the number of drivers who believe splitting is legal on both freeways and multi-lane roads increased 9.7% over 2013, this segment is still only 46.3% of drivers surveyed. Slide 10 California Lane Splitting Overview - August 2014 2014 LaneSplittingIsLegal.com 2014 OTS Lane Share Survey Preview Slide 11 California Lane Splitting Overview - August 2014 2014 LaneSplittingIsLegal.com 2014 OTS Lane Share Survey Preview Slide 12 Thank you! California Lane Splitting Overview - August 2014 2014 LaneSplittingIsLegal.com Learn more: LaneSplittingIsLegal.com