Motorcycles account for 16% of roadway fatalities in Washington, despite being only 3% of registered vehicles, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
Officials are concerned about lane splitting, when motorcycles ride up ahead between two lanes of traffic, usually at traffic stops or in construction zones.
Our FOX 13 affiliate went out and recorded a number of incidents of motorcycle riders splitting lanes in Western Washington.
We spoke with Mark McKechnie from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, who says that’s illegal in the state.
“They want to be able to travel much faster than the flow of the rest of the traffic in congestion or around a crash, for example. That’s what also makes it riskier. If a motorcycle is going much faster than the flow of traffic, you don’t expect to see them and they come up upon you fast,” said McKechnie.
It’s banned across most of the country, but California and a couple of Southwest states allow it under certain circumstances. When it comes up in Washington’s legislature, law makers have said there isn’t a convincing argument to lift the ban.
“We know that it’s risky. While motorcycles are very maneuverable, they are also very vulnerable. If there’s a collision there, the motorcycle is likely going to take the worst of it because of their weight and their size. They don’t have the protective cage around them as four-wheel vehicles do. Motorcycles are also a lot less visible to motorists. They are a lot more narrow. There is research that shows that motorists have a harder time seeing motorcycles because of that narrow profile, and certainly,
In California, when they researched this about ten years ago, a study found that people who lane-split had a slightly lower rate of injury, but there were other differences with those riders. They tended to follow the speed limit. They tended to be sober. They tended to ride in daylight hours. They tended to have high-quality helmets. So, there were a lot of other factors in how those riders navigated and behaved. The big difference with California is that it’s sunny and dry in Southern California. Here, there’s clearly a season for riding, and it’sclearly when the roads are clear and dry, but we also see 70% of our fatalities of motorcyclists in that season from May to September, when most riders are out. It’s just not part of everybody’s travel experience every day, to have those motorcycles come up between lanes. It seems the risk outweighs any potential benefit,” said McKechnie
One argument for allowing lane splitting is that some motorcycles are air-cooled, and so they need to keep moving. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission says that’s becoming less and less true over time, as motorcycles tend to have more water-cooled engines, and the state hasn’t found incidents where it sees lane splitting would keep a motorcyclist safer.
McKechnie says Washington and Oregon haven’t done surveys on lane-splitting activity, but surveys of public opinion show people in Washington think it’s dangerous and they don’t want it.
Police say you might see more lane splitting at construction zones, or in congested traffic like we may see over the Labor Day weekend. They ask you to report it right away.
