Rennie Scaysbrook | April 15, 2020
Cycle News Lowside
COLUMN
America’s Splitting Headache
Some of you are going to hate this column, but I suspect most will be in agreement with what I have to say.
We live in one of the greatest countries in the known world, especially so if you’re into riding motorcycles. The problem is that there are very few good reasons to ride a motorcycle in most states rather than drive a car. Parking is generally a pain (I hate it that in most states/cities a bike must use a car-parking space even though it’s a quarter the size), insurance costs go up every year, and most drivers would rather see us on a bus than the road. Actually, you could save that last point for most countries around the world.
But the thing that sucks more than any of those points is the inability of most American riders to lane split/lane filter.
Should legalizing lane splitting across the nation be a top priority of the AMA? We think so.
American riders, for the most part, are robbed of one of the great aspects of riding—that of getting to the front of traffic and into clear air. It makes traffic flow faster, it’s safer for riders with less chance of rear-end accidents, and it gets you to your destination faster. Currently, only California, Utah, and, to a lesser extent, Hawaii, have legitimized lane splitting, and the argument has been on the table in Oregon, Washington, Connecticut and Maryland. Here’s a helpful link on the subject of lane splitting.
I have ridden all around the world and most—not all—countries allow some form of lane splitting. In many countries, it’s frowned upon if you don’t lane split—car drivers don’t want to be near bike riders any more than we want to be near them.
Helping get lane splitting legislated nationwide should be one of the foremost items on the agenda for the American Motorcyclist Association. In an era where motorcycle ownership is dropping every year, shouldn’t the AMA help make it as appealing as possible to own and ride a street-legal motorcycle?
I spoke with Nick Harris, the AMA Western States Representative, on this issue.
“What we do is try to offer guidance to members or other activists in other states,” Harris said, who was instrumental in getting the California lane-splitting bill passed. “But it’s truly up to the individuals or the groups in those (other) states to say, ‘We want to pursue this issue.’”
In other words, the AMA won’t jump first. It’s up to the people of a given state to put forward an idea that they would like to legitimize lane splitting, at which point the AMA will help said group in meeting with legislators, public officials, etc, to put weight behind the move. Personally, I think this is rather daft, as the AMA (in my opinion), should be putting this issue before the various decision makers in each state, rather than waiting for someone else to do it.
“There are some proposals that we (the AMA) haven’t supported for various reasons,” Harris says. “Let’s say that you were in a state that has a helmet provision for adults, and they say, ‘You can lane split but you have you wear a helmet.’ That has always gone against our position that you shouldn’t trade one right for another.” Ah yes, the helmet law. I’m leaving that one alone for the moment.
One point I found interesting when chatting with Harris was his noting that many rider groups actually oppose lane splitting. “They think it’s dangerous,” said Harris, not disclosing who the groups were or where they were based. “The number-one thing I hear is, ‘You’re crazy. It’s dangerous.’ What they tend to remember is someone doing something irrational or dangerous or illegal. I’ve been to conferences where law enforcement has got up and showed videos of people doing very dangerous, stunt-type things and say, ‘This is what you’re going to allow if you allow lane splitting.’”
If that’s the case, then shouldn’t it be up to the AMA—the world’s largest motorcycling organization—to educate these various groups that, in fact, riders doing illegal things on the street will not be the result of legalizing lane splitting?
“We do our best, but I can’t be at every meeting,” says Harris. “You’ve got to realize—legitimate or not—that’s the perception in some people’s minds. But I agree completely. That’s part of our role [the AMA] to educate people.”
I then asked Nick if the riders opposed to the lane-splitting law are those opposed to mandatory helmet laws?
“I think there’s some crossover there,” he said. Oops. Hang on. Helmet laws again, back to lane splitting.
What I got from my chat with Nick was the AMA isn’t going to do anything about lane splitting unless someone else brings up the subject. It seems the AMA is either scared to ruffle feathers, or simply doesn’t want to put forth this subject, which shouldn’t be a subject at all, in my opinion, to the various states that don’t have legitimized lane splitting/filtering and or oppose it. It almost seems like the AMA is scared to offend anyone.
We as motorcyclists don’t help ourselves, either. I’ve seen far too many people who ride like they own the streets, pissing off drivers and just generally acting like buffoons in the public eye. This does nothing for helping our cause in any argument, lane splitting or not.
Should the AMA put forth the notion to the various people that matter that, yes, lane splitting would help ease traffic, decrease the risk of accidents, and increase the number of people who would take up riding as a result, they have a hell of a job on their hands. As the AMA website says (check out the full statement on lane splitting): “Significant effort would subsequently be required to educate the law-enforcement community, officials and administrators within state departments of transportation and public safety, prosecutors, the judiciary and the general motoring public on the benefits to those groups and motorcyclists to make lane splitting safe for everyone. Using public service announcements and campaigns, traditional broadcast and print media, social media, and other forms of information sharing could assist in highlighting the safety, congestion reduction, and other benefits of lane splitting.”
Well, better get to it, AMA. With less and less bikes sold every year, less new riders hitting the streets and less chances for the AMA to increase its membership numbers (and therefore increase profits), it might not be very long before our group is so small there won’t be anyone to advocate for.
It’s time to get with the program and make lane splitting legal. CN
