Hozhead

I often wondered about the legality of lane splitting in Idaho as the motorcycle riders manual issued by the State of Idaho states only to "discourage others from lane splitting."
It looks like others have wondered the same thing and someone wrote a letter to KTVB news asking about it. KTVB contacted the Idaho State Police who confirmed that lane splitting is, indeed, illegal in Idaho.

May 25, 2006

http://www.ktvb.com/news/special2/st....200f9018.html

Dear Road Wizard: I have read Idaho's Motorcycle Operator's Manual and cannot find where it says that lane splitting is illegal. Can you clarify: is lane splitting lawful or unlawful in Idaho? B.P.@

For those who drive in "cages" and don't know, lane splitting, also called "lane-sharing" and "white lining," is the practice of driving one's motorcycle between two lanes of traffic along the white skip-stripe separating the lanes.

It's a way to make progress when traffic has reached crawl or stall conditions. Space between the idling cars beckons the cyclist forward to help reduce total congestion by one machine.

Lane splitting is allowed in California under certain conditions. Elsewhere, its legal status is negative or ambiguous, prompting motorcyclists to organize and make it legal. The Idaho manual ( http://itd.idaho.gov/dmv/driverservices/ds.htm) is based on text produced by the national Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Idaho publishes it, but hasn't customized the section on lane splitting (page 17). It offers generic cautions, such as "Cars and motorcycles need a full lane to operate safely" and "Discourage lane sharing by others."

The Idaho State Police say, "We consider lane splitting illegal." Boom. Not ambiguous. They cite Idaho Code 49-637, which says, "A vehicle shall be driven as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane..." If an officer sees the cyclist as "reckless," that citation is available, too.

Proeve

so what are you saying? I cant ride the double yellow line any more?

idgsxr1k

Damn the man

AlxandrtheGr8

hold on,,, now your going to tell me that going over 100 is illegal too.

idgsxr1k

No thats just good fun!!

AlxandrtheGr8

its only illegal if you get caught, (not that I have ever done it)

Pesticide

I wouldnt go that far.

GR8Dane

Well i will give the officer a chance to pull me over but he will have to follow me through the white line lane to get to me.

ewolfkiel

Just curious, has there been any marginally sized group in ID that has thought of writing to attempt at legalizing splitting?

2wheelsdown

Why do that. takes all the fun out of it then.

Waldo

This sounds like a job for that great organization who says they help with rider's rights. AMA

ewolfkiel

Well, just a thought although after I'm done down here I'll be more prone to doing it up there...

Skittle

For those who have done it, have you ever had anyone open a door on you? Ive had people throw food at me, but no doors opened yet

FuelCell

I've never heard of that actually happening. Who wants a 400lb motorcycle in their lap?

rujomo

I wasn't sure if it was actually illegal in this state, thanks for the clarification.

LazyJ

any of you actually tried to open your car or truck door while moving 60-70mph down the free way.....i'm just curious how well one could actually do this with the wind resistance.......im sure its possible but i doubt it would be quick enough to pick off a motorcycle......yeah, i can see it possible while in the city moving at much slower speeds.......but then again you have to go back to the....who the hell wants 400lb bike plus another 100-200 lbs rider in their lap........especially knowing that they are potentially going to be brought up on attempted manslaughter charges..............

Hubbs

theduckllr

My last ticket was in 2001, for "improper lane use". I lane split on Cole because all the car in front of me were turning right, so I split them to the front. The 2 officers disagreed, and the judge backed them. $49 lesson I think...

CaptCrash

Grew up in CA doing it. Never had an incident of any kind. BUT I was riding an XL500 with a SuperTrapp with 25 discs in it...so it was like a Huey sneaking up on you...

shadow d hedgehog

Other than sliding down the right side of a few cars when making a right turn at a red light, I did lane split out on the freeway one day when it was a parking lot for as far as I could see and the guy behind me was watching the car in front of me rather than me. I figured the ticket if caught would be better than being the middle of a car sandwich. Never did see a cop and no one bothered me but I did get a honk or two. Went all the way from Meridian to Nampa down the middle.

WingNut

I think running the paint between cars at 60-70mph goes a little beyond "lane splitting." Even in the states it is legal, I believe there are specifics that is is only acceptable when the traffic has reached slow or congested conditions.

But it is more fun the faster you are going.

hellfire24

I can understand someone lane splitting when traffic is at a stand still but if i someone doing 60 or 70 in there truck and you try and lane split someone dont be suprised if you lay your bike over trying to stop from eating there truck bed because they have been known to swerve!! being on many duty stations in my job i have already seen people killed from bikers getting stupid.. yea its fun to go fast and screw around.. but the first time you kill some family and little kids at that you deserive everything your going to get. go out have fun just dont do it around traffic, we all know places to go ride away from all that.. But I am not saying i would do this.. i know people who have had it done to them with a very close call and two friends are dead from stupid stuff happining..

micko24

I think that law, is mostly concentrated on the cagers. I dont think is motorcycle specific.

shadow d hedgehog

Not the place to come threaten bikers. Not sure if you are joking or just exaggerating your intentions, but with only eight posts it is hard to tell.

Some of us ride like idiots, some of us are very reserved. Most of us are somewhere in the middle. We each push the laws we are comfortable pushing and make our own choices as to what is acceptable. We call it "ride your own ride."

Don't be surprised if you receive a dire lashing on this post...

hellfire24

I Am not putting a threat out there... I Ride just as much as the rest.. everyone complains about how they are putting more laws out there for bikes... When someone rides a wheelie down freeway past cars or hits that lovely 150 mph mark, and yes most of us have done it.. they are giong to keep pushing harder on us.. next time your in court ask the judge how many times he has seen something like that on a bike done... Every time they are going to get worse.. and the whole thing about the truck.... just think if that happened to you.. not only are you going to get ed up but your going to get a fine and pay for the persons vehichal cause it is illegal

hellfire24

ItS not pushing the laws its breaking them... if there is no law more powwer to ya

2wheelsdown

Pantherous is always out there doing stupid sh t and I'm always behind him every step of the way. So screw the safe drivers and riders.

Pantherous

THANX BILL...that was suppose to be a secret, now everyone knows what we are doing when we go places.

2wheelsdown

Can't forget the real bad one of the bunch. Rhonda.

Pantherous

I was trying to forget about Rhonda, but OOOOHH NOOO...you have to bring her back into the picture...sheesh...

stubby

I do believe that you could be fined for not being a defensive driver, and possibly more whether the biker was in the wrong or not. You can't just cause an accident whether its brake checking someone, or swerving at them. By you attempting to cause a bike to go down, you just made the roads that much more dangerous, and could possibly risk others lives as you don't know where that bike will go.

For someone that has already lost body parts due to an ignorant woman talking on a cell phone, I don't care to ever hear anyone say what you did. There is a time and place for everything, and while lane splitting might be against the law that doesn't mean some won't do it, and it doesn't mean you can drive recklessly to try and stop it. Taking the law into your own hands will only end bad for you.

CaptCrash

In California lane splitting is "permissible if done in a safe and prudent manner". Check the CHP. That said, the implication is clear that is can be done in a an "unsafe and imprudent" manner. General rules of thumb in the big CA are:

1. Split to the front of the line at lights. If you're moving up to the light and it changes? Merge back in, don't RACE to the front.

2. Don't split at speeds greater that about 35mph. (Going 50 between cars is unsafe and imprudent).

3. Don't travel more than 10-15 mph faster than the traffic around you.

That said--there's plenty o' stupid going on in LA. That stupid makes it's way into the general public's imagination. That imagination creates urban legends that make it up to Idaho. Idahoans then believe that motorcyclists wheelie at 140 between traffic that's traveling 20 mph. Therefore: Lane splitting is stupid and dangerous and we need to take offensive action to stop those stupid motorcyclists from endangering all of us.

If you've grown up with lane splitting (did that), done lane splitting (done that), and then moved somewhere you can't (here be I) let me say:

Dude? Why can't we? It's a natural and effective way to move traffic and protect cyclists.





I think I ranted myself a little....

shaner

I agree with Capt here. When I went to Cali lane splitting was great! Five o' clock traffic was not an issue. BUT once traffic is doing 65 why would you even need to lane split? If you are lane splitting while traffic is doing 65 you are speeding and therefore already breaking one law to break another. Yeah, not safe.

As for saying if someone is lane splitting around you they may eat the bed of your truck, that's just plain ignorant! I see cagers pull far dumber things than this all day every day yet I have no desire to do something stupid like that. Are you that jackass that is pissed for the whole day if someone cuts you off during the morning commute? It's people like you that make our roads unsafe. Let the law and natural selection take care of stupid motorcyclists!!

LazyJ

hellfire24
Gender: Male
Age: 21

Now I'm sure this may be un called for but.........something about the two facts i posted above this might have something to do with the comment he posted about possibly making a rider eat a tailgate.....

young men in their early 20's........lets face it........we're just plain stupid and ignorant at that age......no, its not an excuse....its a reality!

Hoard

I agree there are a lot of people out there that are stupid on bikes... heck its probably me at times.
But swerving or threatening and saying "don't be surprised if you lay your bike over trying to stop from eating my truck bed!!" is a threat on someones health. You might be unhappy with someone driving like an idiot but actually trying to hurt them because of it is absurd and uncalled for and a lot worse than splitting/speeding.

I recently moved to Boise; but last year I did come up and make a trip on the Lowman loop. Doing 45mph after turning after the bridge into Lowman, the group passed a gal in a white van who in turn tried to run them off the road. She actually came all the way over into the oncoming lane shaking her fist and yelling like a crazy person.
Moral of the story; speeding and lane splitting are bad... but treating someone like that is worse and doing it is attempted murder as far as I'm concerned and a LOT worse than driving like an idiot

Hubbs

I resent that I'm 24 and haven't had a ticket since I was 16 [size=1]Not to say that wouldn't be different if I actually got caught...[/size] I am impatient as hell with stupid cagers, but not going to act rashly...just wait for that 2nd lane to open up and buh-bye

LazyJ

you


are




an




exception.....





as always

LazyJ

I think what you meant to say was "YOU RESEMBLE" that remark

Hubbs

Nope I said what I meant. You understood it...
Yay me?

Ming

I lane split in my JEEP.

[B]FTW!