Passes & Canyons Blog

Arizona has joined the ranks of the few states where lane-splitting is legal–sort of.

The state legislature has passed, and the governor has signed, a bill legalizing lane-splitting under very specific conditions. The new law will go into effect in three months.

What the law allows is actually more along the lines of what is referred to as filtering. In full-on lane-splitting, such as in California, motorcycles can pass between cars while traffic is moving. Filtering generally refers to bikes moving to the front of the pack when traffic is stopped at a traffic light.

That’s actually what Arizona will allow. Traffic has to be at a dead stop at a red light. And bikes can only move between them to get to the front at a speed of less than 15 mph.

The key here is that statistics have shown that one of the most dangerous places a bike can be is between cars at a stop. If someone slams into the bike from behind, or into a car further back, setting in motion a chain reaction, the biker can be caught between the cars in front and in back of him/her, to catastrophic effect.

Filtering ahead gets you out of the trap. Someone could still run into the car two vehicles back but there would not be a car in front of you to get crushed against. (Though you could get shoved out into the intersection, into the cross traffic. I’d be willing to take that chance.)

I had the chance to do some filtering in California a few years ago and it worked really well. Out there the drivers are used to it so many of them deliberately leave space ahead of them at a light. A couple other riders and I were behind the first car at the light and there was room in front so after a couple hand signals to suggest we do it we nodded in agreement and pulled around. Others followed us. The light turned green and we sped off, with acceleration much greater than the typical car. We didn’t slow them down and we were quickly out in front with no traffic to be any kind of threat.

This seems like the sensible, safe sort of practice that even bikers who consider lane-splitting to be crazy can get behind. Kudos to Arizona for being sensible.

Biker Quote for Today

Now is the time to be contacting your legislators about the bill to classify auto-cycles as separate and different than motorcycles. Here’s a note from Stump, the ABATE of Colorado legislative liaison.

Just found out HB22-1043 (Definition of a Motorcycle) has been assigned to the S-T&E Committee. Now would be the time to urge the committee members to pass this bill. Below is their email contact information. Sen. Hisey is on the S-T&E committee also, but since he is the Senate Sponsor, you don’t have to email him.

Faith Winter faith.winter.senate@state.co.us (Chairwoman)
Brittany Petterson brittany.pettersen.senate@state.co.us (Vice-Chair)
Don Coram don.coram.senate@state.co.us
Kerry Donovan kerry.donovan.senate@state.co.us
Ray Scott ray.scott.senate@state.co.us
Rachel Zenzinger senatorrachelz@gmail.com

The email can be as simple as, “I urge you to pass HB22-1043” or you can elaborate as to why this should be passed (true and accurate crash data with autocycles having their own classification).

Ukraine
Going a bit farther afield than I normally do, there was an item out of Ukraine that caught my eye. Considering the propaganda that all sides in war put out I take this with a grain of salt but here it is.

“Russian invaders, facing the total resistance of Ukrainian defenders, surrender themselves to captivity. Under Chernihiv, a whole intelligence unit of 74 motorcycle rifle brigade surrendered,” the CinC AF stated, adding that the Russian soldiers “thought they would return home” and that they were “collecting information” instead of fighting.

During a press briefing, Ukraine Ambassador Markarova also told reporters that a platoon of the Russian 74th Motorized Rifle Brigade surrendered to Ukrainian forces.

“Just before I came here, we got information from our chief commander that one of the platoons of the 74th motorized brigade…surrendered, also noting that they didn’t know that they were brought to Ukraine to kill Ukrainians. That they thought they were doing something else there,” she explained.

So if it’s really true, hooray for the Russian motorcycle platoon. I will note a discrepancy you may also have noticed. First that report refers to “a whole intelligence unit of 74 motorcycle rifle brigade” and later they say “a platoon of the Russian 74th Motorized Rifle Brigade.” So I suspect it wasn’t 74 soldiers, but that their unit was designated the 74th. But there hasn’t been any more mention that I’ve seen of the situation so who knows what the facts are. Just for the record I want to say Go Ukrainians, kick some Russian butt.

PIMS
Plus, it appears the Progressive IMS Outdoors motorcycle show will be coming to Colorado this year after all. It is now scheduled for June 17-19 in Loveland at the Ranch events center east of the highway there. I’m definitely going to be going.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if if you don’t ride your bike to work because it scuffs your penny loafers.

I’ve gotten a couple legislative updates recently from Stump, ABATE of Colorado’s legislative liaison. He says it is possible that there may be movement this year on lane-splitting and also on the long-delayed distracted driving bill.

Forbidding the use of cell phones, except in hands-off mode, is an idea that has gained in support over the years, and it looked like the time was at hand just before Covid hit and the work of the Colorado Legislature got pared back to the bare essentials. Two years ago the Senate Transportation and Energy committee moved the bill ahead unanimously but then things went haywire.

According to Stump, General Motors has now decided to put its weight behind such measures:

Lastly, I received the following from Susan Dane, the person spearheading the distracted driving bill the past few years:

It appears General Motors is interested in supporting distracted driving legislation in Colorado. I’ve learned that they have provided support in other states related to this type of legislation. I’m working to set up an initial conversation with their people to see what this may look like. Don’t know where this may go, but it’s hopeful to hear that a major player like GM could get involved. I’ll let you know how things go.

She couldn’t get a sponsor for a bill last year but it looks like something might happen this year.

So we’ll see what comes of this.

As for lane-splitting, here is Stump’s bullet-point list of the status:

Hooked up with professional lobbyist – Sundari Kraft with Ascent Strategies LLC. Signed contract (required by law) for help PRO BONO!
Advantages: good connections with Legislators; more knowledgeable about bill process; great advocate but still considers ABATE to be subject matter expert.
Might “piggyback” on highway safety bills being submitted by Reps. Garnett or Larson.
Met with her to give basic “parameters” about a possible bill and ABATE’s concerns. Gave my personal guidelines (Similar to Oregon’s proposal, which I think has a chance of passing):
Permitted on multi-laned highways with speed limit of 55 or higher
Traffic stopped or moving in the same direction at 10 mph or less
Travel up to 10 mph faster than traffic
NOTE: I don’t think lane filtering would have a chance of passing and these parameters might work, which would allow motorcyclists to lane-split on the interstates when it’s 100 degrees out and traffic is backed up. But remember, it’s not mandatory.

As for creating a separate definition and category for autocycles, Stump noted that the bill is scheduled for committee hearing on February 1.

The big news is that bills are being scheduled in committees and HB22-1043 (Motorcycle and Autocycle Definitions) is scheduled for Tuesday, 2/1 at 1:30 pm, in LSB-A. That’s the building across 14th street from the Capitol (SE corner of 14th & Sherman). If you haven’t emailed the 12 members of the H-T&LG Committee yet, please do so in the next week. Here’s the list of members for your convenience:

Tony Exum Sr. (Chair) — tony.exum.house@state.co.us
Matt Gray (Vice-chair) — matt@matthewgray.us
Andrew Boesenecker — andrew.boesenecker.house@state.co.us
Marc Catlin — marc.catlin.house@state.co.us
Meg Froelich — meg.froelich.house@state.co.us
Edie Hooton — edie.hooton.house@state.co.us
Andres Pico — andres.pico.house@state.co.us
Janice Rich — janice.rich.house@state.co.us
Tom Sullivan — tom.sullivan.house@state.co.us
Donald Valdez — donald.valdez.house@state.co.us
Tonya Van Berber — Tonya.Van.Beber.house@state.co.us
Kevin Van Winkle — kevin.vanwinkle.house@state.co.us

It’s really important that you contact them, so they know this is important to Colorado motorcyclists and we’re really concerned that autocycles have their own category for the purpose of maintaining accurate accident and fatality data. Thanking you in advance.

That’s it for now. Updates to come.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you drink cappuccino instead of beer.

After two years of bare-bones legislative sessions, we are finally starting to see movement on other issues, including some of concern to motorcyclists in Colorado.

House Bill 22-1043 was introduced January 12 by District 16 Rep. Andres Pico and District 2 Sen. Dennis Hisey to clarify the distinct and separate definitions of motorcycles vs. autocycles. As we have seen an explosion in recent years of three-wheeled vehicles that are clearly not motorcycles, these vehicles, nevertheless, continue to be classified as motorcycles. Note that some three-wheeled vehicles are rightly classified as motorcycles, and this proposed legislation addresses that fact.

This is a problem because crashes occur the data connected to them get lumped in with the data from motorcycle crashes, with a clear possibility of wrongly skewing the actual motorcycle data. This in turn can be used for policy-making that is erroneous. Thus the need to create a separate category of vehicle and keep the two separate.

Here’s the current abstract for the bill:

Current law defines an autocycle as a motorcycle. Section 1 of the bill removes autocycle from the definition of motorcycle. The definition of motorcycle is changed to add that a motorcycle needs to have handlebars to steer and has a seat the rider sits astride. The definition of autocycle is also changed to clarify that an autocycle doesn’t use handlebars directly connected to the front tire or tires to steer. In removing autocycle from the definition of motorcycle, the bill makes the following clarifications and changes:

Section 2 clarifies that the driver of an autocycle need not have a motorcycle endorsement regardless of the autocycle’s maximum speed and that all 3-wheel motorcycle drivers need a general or limited motorcycle endorsement;

Current law requires all motorcycle drivers to wear eye protection unless the motorcycle has 3 wheels, has a maximum speed of no more than 25 miles per hour, has a windshield, and has seatbelts. Section 3 clarifies that this exception applies to drivers of autocycles, not motorcycles, fitting that description.

Current law requires a motorcycle driver who is under 18 years of age to wear a helmet unless the motorcycle has 3 wheels, has a maximum speed of no more than 25 miles per hour, has a windshield, and has seatbelts. Section 4 clarifies that this exception applies to autocycles, not motorcycles, fitting that description.

Current law imposes a fee of $4 to register motorcycles for motorcycle operator safety training. Redefining autocycles as not being motorcycles means that autocycle owners will not pay the fee.

Section 5 removes the authorization for 2 autocycles to drive abreast in one lane.

Sections 6 through 31 make conforming amendments.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill has been assigned to the House Transportation and Local Government committee. We’ll be watching its progress and will report back if a time comes when it appears that contacting your legislators would help push it through.

Biker Quote for Today

When a car started telling very bad jokes the motorcycle was disgusted and exclaimed, “Are you four-wheel?”

When Colorado opened its first high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes it was easy: if you were on a motorcycle you could use them and you did not have to pay. There was a brief period of confusion when they said even a motorcycle needed a transponder but thanks to the efforts of groups like ABATE of Colorado that requirement was eliminated.

In the meantime, though, there has been a proliferation of roads that are tolled in one way or another and because I was personally so confused over which ones I could ride on a bike I just quit using any of them. I decided it was time to clear up this fog, so that’s what I’ll do as best I can here.

One of the clearest bits of information is found in that image here of a portion of a chart found at https://www.codot.gov/programs/expresslanes/using-the-lanes. Basically, what this is saying is that all of the express lanes on I-25 and the lanes on US 36 to Boulder are free to motorcycles at all times. And they’re also saying that the express lanes on I-70 into the mountains are tolled no matter what vehicle you are in or on. E-470, of course, is a toll road for everyone.

Another good resource is this CDOT page: https://www.codot.gov/programs/expresslanes. On this page, in a section called WHERE EXPRESS LANES ARE, AND WHERE THEY’LL BE, there are links to maps showing you exactly what roads they’re talking about. I mean, heck, do you know what road they mean when they talk about the I-25 South Gap Project? I didn’t.

There is also a downloadable fact sheet here: https://www.codot.gov/programs/expresslanes/assets/motorcycles-express-lanes-fact-sheet.pdf

This is especially good except there seems to be a discrepancy. Here’s the map on the first page of this PDF.

See down there on C-470, where it’s blue. The legend says “ExpressToll account, pass and toll balance required to avoid higher license plate toll charges for motorcycles.” But the chart says C-470 is free for motorcycles. And on this page specifically about C-470 it says “Motorcyclists can use the Express Lanes for free without a pass.”

So I’m a bit confused, although I tend to suspect the map is wrong and you can ride C-470 with no issues. If anyone can confirm or refute this conclusively PLEASE let me know. Thanks.

I hope this clears most of this up for any of you who, like me, was unclear before. I guess I’ll start using the express lanes again.

Biker Quote for Today

All my friends have life goals . . . and I just want to go faster.

As the Motorcycle Riders Foundation presses its legislative agenda again this year in Washington, DC, one issue is a call for clarity: What is a motorcycle?

It used to be easy to answer that question. In fact, it was defined in law way back in 1967: a motor vehicle with motive power having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with ground.

But now with these things becoming known as autocycles (think Polaris Slingshot) it gets stickier. And the problem is that requirements for motorcycle safety are not the same as requirements for autocycles. The MRF wants a new definition: a motor vehicle, as was originally manufactured, with motive power,having a seat or saddle requiring the rider to sit astride, designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, steering controlled by handlebars, acceleration and braking controlled by handlebar and foot controls and capable of reaching speeds in excess of 30 mph.

Let’s face it, these autocycles are more accurately described as three-wheeled cars, not three-wheeled motorcycles. We have actual three-wheeled motorcycles. Let’s keep them well sorted for the sake of statistics and safety.

Anti-profiling is another recurring concern. If the police want to stop all motorists and check for license and insurance, go ahead. But do not single out motorcyclists and ignore everyone else. The Senate previously passed a resolution opposing this but it didn’t make it through the House. This year it looks like the House may be ready to sign on, too. Good.

We all know that self-driving cars are coming. What we want to be sure of is that their sensors are good enough to detect smaller forms, such as motorcycles, and respond appropriately. The MRF position states: The Motorcycle Riders Foundation maintains that federal authorities must require robust testing of manufacturers of automated driving systems, guaranteeing they have accounted for motorcycle recognition and responsiveness. Any new legislation by this Congress,in either the House or the Senate,should specifically ensure that motorcycles are considered in the bill language. The MRF continues to meet with House Energy and Commerce Committee staff as well as Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee staff to ensure motorcycles are considered in any legislation surrounding this new technology.

As federal mandates continue to promote plant-based ethanol in gasoline it continues to be necessary to do all possible to ensure that people don’t put the stuff in engines that are not designed to handle it. The MRF position: The Motorcycle Riders Foundation supports an educational campaign and warning label that will alert consumers further education on their part may be needed. By encouraging consumers to check their owner’s manual consumers, Americans will have the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions about the fuel they put in their engines. An educated consumer is empowered to make the right decision for their specific circumstances.

And lastly, the most minor of the MRF issues, is to urge members of Congress to join their body’s motorcycle caucus. This is where motorcycles get a real focus and ideas can spill out of there to fill in gaps in other legislation. Hey, we vote and we pay taxes–don’t give us short shrift.

Biker Quote for Today

A guy letting a girl ride his bike is like saying ‘I love you.’

Congress is in session and the Motorcycle Riders Foundation continues to press on motorcycle-focused issues that have arisen over the years. Shaping and passing legislation is not a one-shot effort, it requires tireless, persistent, sustained effort to finally get an idea enacted into law.

Each year the MRF organizes an event called Bikers in the Beltway, where organizations and individuals make an effort to speak with senators and congressmen and women to promote this legislation and to educate these elected officials about the issues. This year and last the effort was less in person than usual and more virtual. But it was done, and that was in early May.

The number one priority for the MRF this year has been the once-every-five-years highway bill. The group’s position states: The highway bill is a vital part of our transportation policy making system. The opportunity to dramatically impact our surface transportation system comes around only once every five years. Using this legislative vehicle to include important motorcycle specific priorities is a must. The House wisely included many of these provisions during committee markup in 2020. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation is encouraged by the work of the House in 2020 and seeks continued support for motorcyclists in any permanent bill.

The priorities in the bill are:
• Preserving the Motorcycle Education & Awareness Program Grant Funding. (Sec. 3001)
• Preserving the ban on federal funding for motorcycle only checkpoints.(Sec. 3011)
• Preserving the Motorcyclist Advisory Council (MAC) to advise the FHWA (Federal Highway Administration).(Sec. 3013)
• Preserving language that collects motorcyclist profiling data.(Sec. 3505)
• Preserving mandate that autonomous vehicles must detect and respond to motorcycles.(Sec. 5304)
• Preserving the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) Lobbying Ban and expand to other federal agencies.
• Preserving the language that motorcycles are not considered single-occupancy vehicles for HOV lane access.
• Ensure that motorcycles are not banned from federally funded roads.

Some of these issues are obvious. Motorcycles not banned from federally funded roads? Well, duh. Why is it even necessary to state that explicitly in law?

Others not so much. Preserve the NHTSA lobbying ban? I’ll go into details on some of these in my next couple posts.

Meanwhile, if you care about your rights and safety as a motorcyclist you might consider supporting at least one of the several groups working for all of us at both the federal and state levels.

Biker Quote for Today

Oh, my lifestyle offends you? Go hold your breath till I give a damn.

I hadn’t even heard it was being considered and now I get a note that Oregon has in fact approved lanesplitting, although the governor has not yet signed the bill. Yahoo. Little by little acceptance of this entirely sensible practice continues to spread across the country.

UPDATE–Much to the surprise of many, the governor vetoed this bill. Here’s the story: https://www.opb.org/article/2021/05/26/gov-kate-brown-vetoes-bill-allowing-lane-splitting-by-oregon-motorcyclists/

Of course, each state handles it differently so that will make for some real confusion at some point. California is the most permissive. Here’s a breakdown of what Oregon will be enacting, courtesy of a post on Adventure Rider.

SB574 would legalize lane sharing under limited conditions:
Highways only:
lane-sharing allowed only on roads with a posted speed limit of 50MPH or higher
Traffic on the road:
must be stopped, or moving at 10 miles per hour or less
The rider:
may travel no more than 10 miles per hour faster than traffic
must not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic
must safely merge with traffic, if traffic speed exceeds 10 miles per hour
must pass traffic traveling in the same direction
Riders cannot lane share:
between a traffic lane and the curb and bicycle lane (on either side)
between a traffic lane and a row of parked vehicles (on either side)
on the right side of the rightmost lane of traffic, or the left side of the leftmost lane of traffic
in a school zone
Riders should also use common sense when lane sharing, and err on the side of caution: “If you can’t fit, don’t split”.

That looks fairly reasonable to me. Three cheers for Oregon.

Biker Quote for Today

We know you’re a poser if you spend more time shining your bike than riding it.