From: cjackson@adobe.com (Curtis Jackson)
Subject: Re: lane-splitting etiquette
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Mountain View
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 05:43:43 GMT

The following article is aimed at a large group of questioners. I am fully
aware that the particular person quoted appears to be posting from Texas,
although why a Texan is getting ba.* groups, much less posting to one, is
beyond me.

}In article <1992Dec16.185943.27163@spdc.ti.com> serafin@epcot.spdc.ti.com (Mike Serafin) writes:
}>Is it really legal, or just tolerated?  My understanding is that it is NOT
}>legal, but the authorities tolerate it.  Somebody have any actual code 
}>references that they can site.

Will somebody *PLEASE* cite the actual code references again and PUT THIS
IN THE REC.MOTO FAQ!!!! I DON'T CARE IF IT ONLY APPLIES TO CA, IT IS WORTH
IT TO PUT IT IN THE FAQ!

Ahem.

1) There is no CA state law *against* SHARING a lane with another vehicle.

2) There *is* a CA state law that says you cannot change lanes unless you
   have first signalled your intentions for 100 feet.

3) Therefore, on a statewide basis, you can legally SHARE a lane with another
   vehicle, including passing them in that lane, but you cannot legally
   rapidly move back and forth from lane to lane, or ride right on the stripe.

4) There is also a law that says your entire vehicle has to be within the lane
   boundaries, so technically if your tire is right up against the lane marker
   line, you are outside your lane (or, really, in two lanes at once).

5) Some places (in the bay area, most notable is Marin County) use (3) and, if
   necessary, would probably use (4) to convict you of lane-SPLITTING. Your
   only recourse is to know where these anal retentive biker-hating munici-
   palities/counties are and don't get caught lane sharing there.

6) Some localities, such as the City of San Jose, have anti-lane-sharing
   ordinances. I have never heard of San Jose's ordinance being enforced in
   recent years. A friend of mine lane-split up to a light, and a San Jose
   moto cop lane-split up beside him and said, "You know that [lane
   splitting] is illegal in San Jose." My friend said, "Yeah." And the cop
   muttered, "Only way to get around in this damned town," and rode off as
   the light changed without another word (and without issuing a ticket).

I won't go into the historical old wive's tales about why it is legal and
done by state CHP.

Several people, including an RSS instructor who questions all RSS law
enforcement students about lane-sharing, have told me that the unwritten
guidelines are: Don't lane-share at a speed of more than 35 mph, and
don't lane-share at more than 10 mph greater than the speed of other
traffic. The one exception being that it is OK to creep it up to about
15 mph if the cars you are passing are DEAD STOPPED. If you violate these
informal guidelines, you can (and probably eventually will) be charged
with reckless "driving" or the moral equivalent.

A FINAL FLAME: EVEN IF YOU WERE GRANDFATHERED IN FROM ANOTHER STATE, YOU
STILL HAD TO GET YOUR BIKE REGISTERED IN CA (PRESUMABLY) AND GET YOUR CA
LICENSE (PRESUMABLY). DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT, BECAUSE YOU MOVED
INTO A DIFFERENT STATE, YOU SHOULD GET THE DAMNED STUDY BOOK FOR THE MOTO
TEST AND FIND OUT THE FUNNY LAWS OF YOUR NEW STATE? IF YOU HAD, YOU WOULD
HAVE FOUND THAT IT EXPLICITLY SAYS THAT LANE-SHARING IS NOT ILLEGAL, BUT
THAT DMV DOESN'T RECOMMEND IT FOR SAFETY REASONS.
-- 
Curtis Jackson  DoD #721   '62 Yankee Brunette "Dorothy"    '81 Maxim 650
cjackson@mv.us.adobe.com   '91 Black Lab "Studley"  '92 Collie/Golden "George"
  "They that can give up an essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
   safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin (1759)
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