![\"Lane-splitting](\"http:\/\/www.motorcyclecolorado.com\/BlogPix\/LaneSplitParis.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It’s 2011 and motorcyclists in Arizona are not legally permitted to lane-split. That’s only news because the legislature was in favor of allowing a test. The governor, however, had other ideas, and vetoed the legislation. <\/p>\n
In Oregon it looks like it might be tried. The Governor\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Advisory Board on Motorcycle Safety held a public meeting on Nov. 19, 2010, and the hall was packed with motorcyclists speaking in favor. It’s up to the legislature now.<\/p>\n
Lane-splitting, for anyone who doesn’t know, is when motorcycles ride up the middle between cars in two lanes. This usually only occurs in extremely slow-moving or completely stopped traffic. Except in France, of course. When my wife and I were in Paris some years ago we were amazed to see motorcyclists zipping not just up the middle but down the shoulder, along the dividers separating oncoming traffic, and all of this with traffic moving at full speed.<\/p>\n
It was in the heart of Paris, though, where you could really see the sense of the idea. Every time a light turned red and traffic stopped, small motorcycles and scooters filtered through to the front and as soon as the light went green they were off! With quicker acceleration than cars, the two-wheelers were gone by the time the cars started to move and the cars just moseyed on their way. Riders in California, the only U.S. state where splitting is allowed, will tell you they cut half their commute time in that way. Each one of them also represents a car that is not on the highway creating even more congestion and smog.<\/p>\n