and in this case, you can’t always count on someone to let you out of their blind spot.
To be specific:
Once upon a time, the California Vehicle Code (CVC) made no mention at all of ‘lane splitting’, so it was assumed to be legal.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP), in an attempt to be sensible and helpful (they’re like that), promulgated a series of (voluntary!) recommendations for safer lane-splitting.
But members of the California legislature objected that the CHP should not be creating policy - that’s the legislature’s job.
So they passed a bill which added the following section to the Vehicle Code:
CVC21658.1. (a) For the purposes of this section, “lane splitting” means driving a motorcycle, as defined in Section 400, that has two wheels in contact with the ground, between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane, including on both divided and undivided streets, roads, or highways.
(b) The Department of the California Highway Patrol may develop educational guidelines relating to lane splitting in a manner that would ensure the safety of the motorcyclist and the drivers and passengers of the surrounding vehicles.
(c) In developing guidelines pursuant to this section, the department shall consult with agencies and organizations with an interest in road safety and motorcyclist behavior, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) The Department of Motor Vehicles.
(2) The Department of Transportation.
(3) The Office of Traffic Safety.
(4) A motorcycle organization focused on motorcyclist safety.
(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 141, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2017.)
So now, the CHP is studying and consulting and preparing new guidelines.
They’ll probably be very similar to the old guidelines, but they will be the result of a study ordered by the legislature, not a CHP initiative, so all’s right in bureaucrat-ville.
It’s possible the lege will even enshrine some or all of the recommendations in law (which they can do now, having ordered a proper study.)
But at the moment, lane-splitting is legal however it’s done, as long as it doesn’t shade off into reckless driving.
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