Oregon Lane Splitting Bill – Not Really Helpful

The Oregon State Senate passed a proposal to make lane-splitting legal in the state. Sadly it eliminated the part that offers the most safety from the bill. It’s one thing to be cautios about adding a new and sometimes controversial amendment to existing law. It’s another to remove one of the biggest benefits.

SB 694 takes an overly cautious approach to lane-splitting. Motorcyclists may only filter between cars on highways where the speed limit is 50 MPH or faster and only when traffic is moving at 10 MPH or less. That’s fine, as is the text stating that:

The motorcycle operator or moped operator is driving in a cautious and prudent manner and is traveling at a speed of 20 miles per hour or less.

That is perfectly well and good and will help highway traffic. But…

Lane-splitting isn’t just about traffic moving on the highway it’s about avoiding crashes. Getting rear ended by a texting, newspaper reading, breakfast eating distracted driver.

Few things are more heart pounding and adrenaline inducing than the sound of screeching tires from behind when stopped at a traffic light. It’s one of the primary reasons California allows riders to filter to the front of intersections when stopped. It’s something that the CHP cites as one of the main safety benefits of lane-splitting.

The NHTSA states that around one-third of all crashes in the U.S. are a rear-end collisions. Lane-splitting would help riders avoid these crashes in towns and urban areas. By not allowing motorcyclists to move up to the front of an intersection and banning lane-splitting in cities – politicians once again prove they’re utterly clueless when it comes to safety.

There’s a chance of the law being amended before signed into law, but since it’s already been approved by the State Senate, don’t count on it.