2015 Anti-Lane Splitting Bill (Assembly Bill 51)

revnort

Tasty Pants
It looks like this makes the CHP suggestions law. It isn't anti lane splitting bill...Although I agree it should be squashed:

(c)**(1)**A motorcycle, as defined in Section 400, may be driven
line 14 between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane,
line 15 including both divided and undivided streets, roads, or highways,
line 16 if both of the following conditions are present:
line 17 (A)**The speed of traffic moving in the same direction is 35 miles
line 18 per hour or less.
line 19 (B)**The motorcycle is not driven more than 10 miles per hour
line 20 faster than the speed of traffic moving in the same direction.
line 21 (2)**This subdivision does not authorize a motorcycle to be driven
line 22 in contravention of other laws relating to the safe operation of a
line 23 vehicle.
 
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taking a wrong turn
They didn't even give us a years break since SB350 died. I hate how they can rely on voter fatigue to slip this shit through. I wonder who's behind this legislation?
 

revnort

Tasty Pants
I do wonder why he is proposing it. Who would have a stake in this?

It isn't anti. I posted this on FB, but while I totally agree we should fight any legislation that limits our rights (and I intend to fight this however I can), but it could actually be looked at as a good thing...

I mean it explicitly legalizes lanesplitting with law. Instead of adding a law that forbids it they would have to repeal this law to make it illegal. Right?
 

metrorollah

OWHLY?
I do wonder why he is proposing it. Who would have a stake in this?

It isn't anti. I posted this on FB, but while I totally agree we should fight any legislation that limits our rights (and I intend to fight this however I can), but it could actually be looked at as a good thing...

I mean it explicitly legalizes lanesplitting with law. Instead of adding a law that forbids it they would have to repeal this law to make it illegal. Right?

Or, just shift the speed limit prohibition down to 5mph once they have a law in place. That is the concern.
 
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revnort

Tasty Pants
Hey Jason, has ABATE talked to this guy (Bill Quirk)? Do we know more about his reasoning or who else might be behind it?
 

yarrrrr

Well-known member
I am sure if a few constituents from his district (Hayward, Cherryland, North Fremont, etc) want to get a word in, they should give his staff a call as well:

Bill Quirk, Assemblymember 916-319-2020, 916-319-2120
Sean Henschel, Chief of Staff to Assemblymember Quirk 916-319-2020, 916-319-2120
Tomasa Duenas, Legislative Director to Assemblymember Quirk 916-319-2020, 916-319-2120
Carolina Salazar, District Director to Assemblymember Quirk 510-583-8818, 510-583-8800

But, best to support ABATE first
 
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taking a wrong turn
I do wonder why he is proposing it. Who would have a stake in this?

It isn't anti. I posted this on FB, but while I totally agree we should fight any legislation that limits our rights (and I intend to fight this however I can), but it could actually be looked at as a good thing...

I mean it explicitly legalizes lanesplitting with law. Instead of adding a law that forbids it they would have to repeal this law to make it illegal. Right?

What I meant was which special interest prodded him in to authoring this bill.

Also, it would prohibit lanesplitting on single lane roads (1 lane each way). In Richmond I currently use this to bypass a lot of slow drivers without any part of my bike (even mirrors) wandering outside the marked roadway because the lanes are 15-20 feet wide each way.
 

Gabe

COVID-fefe
This is EXACTLY what I said would happen when the guidelines came out, and what I predicted in the column I wrote for Motorcycle.com this year.

http://www.motorcycle.com/features/skidmarks-splitting-headache.html

We gotta stamp this bullshit out ASAP. I suspect that like AB350, it's also a "placeholder" bill that will go nowhere. It would be nice to watch the hearings for this bill.

Q: So Assemblyman, what evidence do you have that lane-splitting motorcycles should only have a 10 mph speed differential?

A: I dunno. One of my constituents said some maniac passed his mother-in-law at 80 mph.

Here's my favorite paragraph from that column:

"...say they pass that law [regulating lane-splitting], and now we’re all lane splitting with some non-rider’s idea of what’s safe in mind when somebody screws up and is gruesomely crushed between two big rigs. Yet another lawyer will point out that if only the law called for a 7.5 mph speed differential instead of 10, little Billy would still have a daddy today. “Billy’s Law,” as it will no doubt be known, will call for that revision, and all will be well until 18 months later when another hapless motorcyclist is killed going 6 mph faster than stopped traffic and the legislature responds with “Sally’s Law,” and so on.

At some point, you’ll only be able to lane split if you’re pushing your motorcycle while completely encased in Nerf foam – but only during morning and afternoon commute hours and if the vehicles you pass are shut off with transmissions in ‘park.’ Lane splitting will be legal in one state of the Union, but, really, just in name only."
 
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taking a wrong turn
I was thinking about who would benefit if lanesplitting were outlawed. Then it hit me, it would make self-driving vehicles that much easier to develop if they didn't have to account for motorcycles. Then I ran across this from an article on self driving cars,
As autonomous vehicles become increasing the status quo on the road, user-guided vehicles like motorcycles will become greater outliers, and could face a tyranny of the majority.

The immediate concern of course is that self-driving vehicles may not be able to adapt and predict to every situation that a motorcycle could present the vehicle on the roadway (motorcyclists all know that human-driven cars have a hard enough time with this reality as it is). However, the long-term concern should be focused on the increasing marginalization of motorcycles in the daily transportation discourse.
From - http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/popular/california-legalizes-self-driving-cars/

Then you look at who specifically is proposing these bills, SB350 and AB51, it's legislators located in or close to the South Bay. Jim Beall (San Jose) and Bill Quirk (Hayward/Fremont). Then you have Google which is developing self-driving cars close by. I'd like to see how much money those legislators receive from businesses and employees of businesses that are developing self driving cars.
 

amphora001

Well-known member
I don't get it. From everything in this thread, the bill seems perfectly reasonable and make things clear for everyone, just like the CHP guideline said. Lane splitting on a single lane road doesn't seem safe anyway, you're riding the emergency lane. And if traffic is going 35mph and you're allowed to go 10+ that, which is 45mph, then that's pretty good. Any faster there's no reason to lane split.

From reading the bill, I think the Assemblyman is looking out for us motorcyclist. If you don't like laws for the sake of not liking laws, that's an entirely different discussion. This seems like perfectly good law and I would support this.
 

revnort

Tasty Pants
From reading the bill, I think the Assemblyman is looking out for us motorcyclist.

Why? What makes you think he is looking out for us? How so?

You can be ticketed now for breaking any of those guidelines, it is at the officers discretion. So why add more letter to the law? It can only be used against us later.
 
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H.D.30-06

Well-known member
Or, just shift the speed limit prohibition down to 5mph once they have a law in place. That is the concern.

Exactly we have seen this tactic many times before. Once they get their foot in the door their will keep pushing. Need to stomp on the foot.
 

Blankpage

alien
I don't get it. From everything in this thread, the bill seems perfectly reasonable and make things clear for everyone, just like the CHP guideline said. Lane splitting on a single lane road doesn't seem safe anyway, you're riding the emergency lane. And if traffic is going 35mph and you're allowed to go 10+ that, which is 45mph, then that's pretty good. Any faster there's no reason to lane split.

From reading the bill, I think the Assemblyman is looking out for us motorcyclist. If you don't like laws for the sake of not liking laws, that's an entirely different discussion. This seems like perfectly good law and I would support this.

Perhaps you'd be more comfortable in a prius than one of those dangerous motorcycles.
 

ScottRNelson

Mr. Dual Sport Rider
I don't get it. From everything in this thread, the bill seems perfectly reasonable and make things clear for everyone, just like the CHP guideline said. Lane splitting on a single lane road doesn't seem safe anyway, you're riding the emergency lane. And if traffic is going 35mph and you're allowed to go 10+ that, which is 45mph, then that's pretty good. Any faster there's no reason to lane split.

From reading the bill, I think the Assemblyman is looking out for us motorcyclist. If you don't like laws for the sake of not liking laws, that's an entirely different discussion. This seems like perfectly good law and I would support this.
Now we have two in agreement with the proposed law. :)

It wouldn't change a single thing about the way that I ride. I was already following the CHP guidelines when they came out.
 
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