Split Opinions on Motorcycle Lane-Splitting

• Oregon Department of Transportation
• Motorcycles riding between lanes on a highway during heavy traffic

For six months last year, daily motorcycle commuter and downtown Portland resident Patrick Leyshock worked in Hillsboro. As a dedicated all-weather rider, Leyshock rode Highway 26 in morning and evening rush hour traffic five days a week, putting along in the exhaust haze of the cars around him, though there’s plenty of room for a skilled rider to split the space between cars and keep moving. Leyshock was trapped on the open road because in Oregon, riding between two lanes—called “lane-splitting,” also known as “lane-filtering”—is illegal.

Senate Bill 694 is looking to change that, and it’s made it through the Senate with a sound 18-10 vote and two abstentions. The vote, says Leyshock, has broad bipartisan support partly because the proposed change has some pretty strict parameters. First, lane splitting would only be allowed on highways with posted speed limits of 50 mph or higher. Additionally, it would only be legal in situations where traffic is jammed to 10 mph or slower, and the rider would be limited to speeds under 20 mph while splitting the lanes.

It’s also moved through, says Dave Peterson, the Portland Metro representative to the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Motorcycle Safety, in part because Gov. Kate Brown has “made transportation a priority.” He says former Gov. John Kitzhaber was historically reluctant to address motorcycle-related legislation.

Proponents of SB 694 cite data touting myriad advantages of allowing lane-splitting, including easing traffic congestion, reducing carbon emissions, and improving rider safety. Common opposition—of which there hasn’t been a lot—sounds something like, “it would startle me when one rode by,” or “why should they get to go but I (cars) have to wait?” There’s also the sinister sounding, “what if someone opens their door?” (Which, OK, but who does that, really, and how often? Don’t open your car door in traffic. Duh.)

“I can’t think of a single good reason that it’s necessary,” says veteran rider Angie Jackson-Sprouse. “My entire family rides and … well I guess my question is why? Patience? Convenience? What?”

Peterson explained how allowing motorcyclists to filter through traffic would reduce wait times for everyone because by allowing the smaller motorcycles to move through the smaller spaces first, everyone moves through faster in the end.

“You’ve got to look at it systemically,” he says. “Take yourself out of your own car an look as if you’re looking down from a helicopter. Imagine that it’s like pouring sand through a box of rocks; there is a finite amount of room and everyone gets to move forward.”

He also cited this 2011 Belgian study, which has a lot of excellent numbers if you like data as much as I do.

Christopher Slater, a Portland attorney and motorcycle rider who helped write SB 694, says lane-splitting cuts down on traffic congestion by taking cars off the road and allowing traffic to flow better. He says that it also reduces carbon emissions by encouraging people to ride their fuel-efficient motorcycles.

“There are people I know who leave their motorcycles in the garage and take their cars because it’s more dangerous to ride when lane-splitting isn’t allowed,” he says. “What lane-splitting does is it places my safety (as a rider) in my own hands. When riders are allowed to take advantage of all the space—and there is plenty of space—it keeps them out of drivers’ blind spot.”

Brian Edwards, a former Team Oregon motorcycle instructor, said it could become standard practice to teach new riders to use the space between lanes as a possible escape route if the bill passes.

“The biggest safety risk a rider faces when he’s sitting in traffic are car drivers,” Edwards said. “Are they paying attention to you? They’re not. They’re playing with their gadgets.”

A 2014 study prepared for the California Office of Traffic Safety found that lane-splitting motorcyclists were less likely to suffer head injuries, torso injuries, and fatal injuries than other cyclists. They were also less likely to be rear-ended by another vehicle, which, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, accounts for nearly 40 percent of all motor vehicle wrecks.

“In addition to reducing rear-end accidents to motorcycles, safe lane-splitting provides the motorcyclist with greater maneuverability to avoid accidents and helps reduce the force of impact to the motorcyclist when accidents do occur,” Slater says. “Providing motorcyclists with the option of safely riding between lanes removes them from the ‘blind spot’ by placing them in full view of the driver’s side mirror.”

Slater says that, if SB 694 passes, it will be the only one of its kind in the US, though other states are considering similar legislation. The only state in which lane-splitting is currently legal is California (where Slater is from), and that’s because they don’t have any laws against it, which means there are also no speed limits or safety rules, unlike with Oregon’s proposed law.

“In California they are so much more aware of motorcycles than in Oregon,” he says. “It’s because they’re visible. This is a step in that direction.”

Though proponents make a strong case for the bill, the riding community is split on lane-splitting. Two motorcycle police officers, both of whom have also been instructors, replied to a (really super informal) Facebook request for opinions on the issue.

Former Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger gives lane-splitting the thumbs up.

“Done correctly, I believe lane-splitting is efficient and safe,” Evinger wrote. “Why leave a motorcyclist at the back of stopping traffic to get rear ended, when they are difficult to see and being rear ended on a bike is a significant if not fatal event? Additionally, their acceleration is generally quicker than their four-wheeled counterparts so they are unlikely to slow traffic if they are at the front of the line at a stop light.”

Eugene Police Office Nathan Pieske thinks it’s best to keep it illegal.

“I am not even keen on the idea of doing it myself as a motor officer and motor instructor,” Pieske responded. “There are too many passengers with steering wheels driving distracted and with their heads in places they (shouldn’t) be … On one hand, if a motorcycle crashes and rider is killed, it’s on them, but everyone will ultimately pay for their mistakes or the mistake(s) of the car that unintentionally cut the motorcycle off with insurance premiums.”

Riders and non-riders alike seem to have strong opinions about the issue, but it’s up to the Oregon House to decide for us, which they’ll do soon. The bill had it’s first reading on April 27 and should head to committee next.