Please Explain Lane Splitting

Lane splitting is not passing cars with opposing traffic coming at you. That’s just passing.

It’s also not crossing over any lane dividers. That’s also passing. You’re just using the extra space in the lane to go by another vehicle.

In California, lane splitting wasn’t technically legal or illegal until 2016. There was just nowhere in the vehicle code that said two vehicles couldn’t share a lane. In 2016 a bill was passed to make lane splitting legal and to give the CHP regulatory authority. The CHP has actually issued guidelines before that, but someone sued saying that the CHP didn’t have the authority to enforce the guidelines since it wasn’t actually ever addressed in the vehicle code. I have seen any actual new guidelines published. The old ones limited lane splitting to speeds below 55 mph and limited the difference in speed to 20mph. Ie, if you were splitting with traffic moving 35 mph you couldn’t go faster than 55mph. That’s still actually pretty big difference. More info and the old guidelines Lane Splitting is Legal in California

Personally, I only split lanes when traffic is going under 25mph or so. Faster than that and cars can change lanes too quickly to get out of the way IMO. And I always split to the front when traffic is stopped at a light, because I know too many riders that have been rear ended, while stopped, sitting at the back of a line of traffic. Riders that weave in and out of traffic lanes, blast down between lanes at high speed differentials, and in general ride like A-holes screw it up for everybody. But so do the cage drivers that pull their car into tha way to block splitting, open doors to hit people, throw things out of their windows at riders, or just don’t check their damn mirrors. I’ve had all of those things happen when splitting, and I don’t split if I’m not in first gear so that’s all just a-hole car drivers.

And no, California isn’t the only place it’s legal. It’s legal in pretty much every other country in the entire world, the US is the exception. Most countries allow it because it eases traffic. The bikes aren’t stuck in traffic with everyone else, they can split to the front and then they’re out of your way. Also encourages more riders, so, less traffic again.