California just got another step closer to formalizing the practice of lane-splitting in the Golden State, as AB 51 just passed the California State Senate.
The bill will now go back to the California State Assembly, which will need to approve of the amendments made by the Senate, but that should be a formality for the legislative body.
This means that California is now just a couple procedural movements away from codifying lane-splitting into its vehicle code. For many lane-splitting advocates, this marks a decisive victory. Though, we’ve had some reservations.
For those who don’t recall AB 51, the bill expressly codifies lane-splitting into the California Vehicle Code, and the bill permits state actors, like the California Highway Patrol (CHP), in developing and teaching educational guidelines for safe lane-splitting.
While it is a positive move to see California on its way to codifying lane-splitting, Asphalt & Rubber has been firm on its stance that AB 51 has substance, but lacks teeth.
The current version of AB 51 makes no mention of how lane-splitting should be conducted, which means that the act will still fall back onto California’s “safe and prudent” catchall provision for operating a motor vehicle. Californian motorcyclists should know how nebulous this definition can be in application.
However, there are gains to be made by allowing the CHP and other entities to educate and teach safe lane-splitting techniques to motorcyclists, but the worry here is that what the CHP creates as “guidelines” can once again become the de facto law on the subject, without legislative input. This is what ran the CHP afoul of things in the past.
Hopefully though, AB 51 will get the ball rolling to have more high-level conversations about lane-splitting legislature – not only in California, but throughout the United States of America.
Source: State of California Legislative Counsel via Lane Splitting is Legal
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