Bill To Allow Motorcycle Lane-Splitting Stalls In California

SACRAMENTO (AP) — Legislation to make California the first state to explicitly allow motorcycles to weave between vehicles in slow-moving traffic has stalled in the state Legislature.

Assemblyman Bill Quirk of Hayward, a Democrat, is putting the legislation on hold for this year while he figures out how to implement lane-splitting. That's according to his chief of staff, Tomasa Dueñas, on Monday.

Although California bikers regularly engage in lane-splitting, the practice is at the discretion of law enforcement and exists in a legal gray area.

Other states explicitly ban lane-splitting.

AB51 by Quirk and Republican Tom Lackey of Palmdale would have required motorcycles to drive below 50 miles per hour when splitting lanes.

The legislation had support from law enforcement groups but the American Motorcyclist Association opposed it.

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