Lane Splitting in Ohio

[Fin]

Dear Fellow Ohio Riders;

If any of you have ridden a motorcycle in California you have or have been very tempted to lane split.  To the rest of you all, you have never enjoyed this benefit during traffic.  Lane splitting is riding the line between to lanes in the same direction.   While I lived in California lane-splitting was better than sliced bread for the following reasons:

1. It got me through traffic.
2. It gave me a get away from a road rager.
3. It got me to the head of an intersection and away from congestion.
4. It saved my bike from overheating.
5. It kept a tailgater and reckless driver from entering my tailpipe.

Now,  I have seen my fair share of idiots on the road, so before you say lane-splitting is dangerous because people pass too fast let pull a Barney Fife and nip that argument in the bud. The same 10% we call squids giving us 90% awesome riders a bad name will yes pass fast.  But their days are numbered so don't worry about it.  Hot heads, meat heads and brain deads don't last long on the road.

So here are the facts.  According to a study from U.C. Berkeley, CA (source) lane splitting is safe and greatly reduces being hit from behind.  And in Ohio, this is especially important where cagers (people in cars) just can't stop behind the pedestrian crosswalk nor keep from inching into the intersection only to snail through at the green because they are checking the weather on their cellphones (illegal yes... but they still do it)  According to a 2014 Ohio report (source) there were 3,651 motorcycle crashes, 140 of which ended in death and 3,060 resulted in injuries.  And by all vehicle one of the most common types of accident is the rear-ender.  By the way, here's a note for the wise, if you do get rear-ended, leave your bike in front of the car until the folks in blue come; otherwise, you'll likely have a hit-and-run while you hobble your dreams to the side of the road.  

And for all you on hogs, you know what idle in the hot still summer sun can do to your air-head engines.  Here's a Harley forum that goes into detail (source).

Now, for trends.  Currently the state of Washington passed their lane-splitting bill in the senate only to have it stall in their state's house (source.)  And in Utah the bill failed to become law also in this merry month of March, 2017 (source.)  

So, what's with Ohio?   According to Robert D. Erney (source) lane splitting, driving between lanes to avoid slow or stalled traffic is illegal in Ohio.  I suppose it can be argued by a good attorney that you where not splitting lanes if you were not directly between two vehicles, but then you'll have to explain the unsafe lane change ticket and while at it not using your direction signals.

What doesn't makes sense to me is that two bicycles and two motorcycles can in fact share a lane, but a car and a motorcycle cannot. And yes, keep three feet away from those bicycles (with no respect given to unicycles); it's the law.  ORC 4511.55 (B) Persons riding bicycles or motorcycles upon a roadway shall ride not more than two abreast in a single lane, except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles or motorcycles.

And you can pass two bicycles riding side by side or a slow moving vehicle to the far right, and you can cross a double yellow lane in some cases, but I have yet to find any ORC which specifically states Ohio does not permit lane-splitting.  For more info check out these sources.

4511 TRAFFIC LAWS - OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES
4511.21 [Effective 4/6/2017] Speed limits - assured clear distance.
4511.25 Lanes of travel upon roadways of sufficient width. 
4511.29 Driving to left of center of roadway in overtaking and passing traffic proceeding in same direction.
4511.33 Driving in marked lanes.

So what should we do about lane-splitting?
According to StateMaster.com there is approximately  7.6 million Ohioans who have a driver's license (source)  And according to the U.S. Department of Transportation there are 10.6 million registered vehicles, and 405 thousand or 3.8% are motorcycles (source).  In comparing apples to oranges, maybe we can say there are 289 thousands Ohians who have a motorcycle license as well?  That's good enough for square screws and government accountability for gross approximations to the nearest centurion.  

With figures like those not even May West can argue we have a snow belt's chance in Euclid of getting frost bit in March. So I say... let's get the law passed in Ohio where we can lane-split, keep safe, save the environment and do it for the children.  Are you with me?

Lane Splitting Advocacy: http://lanesplittinglegal.com/
In closing, here's a good jump point to find out most things about Ohio motorcycle stuff: http://www.motorcycle.ohio.gov/

Edited March 24, 2017 by Fin
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[TimTheAzn]

Keep in mind we live in Ohio and people suck at driving.

[Fin]

1 hour ago, TimTheAzn said:

Keep in mind we live in Ohio and people suck at driving.

And suck they do...  like those with cellphone in hand who think they can drive at night through Kent without headlights.

[jschaf]

I lane split when necessary but that isn't that often because we don't have the traffic problems that the west coast has.  It would be nice if it were legal but we're still working on getting them to legalize ear plugs while riding, lol  The illegality of it is not really much of an issue imo:  1. Cops usually stay away from clogged highways except when there's a wreck.   2.  We don't have many motorcycle cops & any cop in a car in a traffic jam is probably going to be helpless to give chase as you can't split lanes in a car & if they decide to go John Wayne & run the berm they can't get across several lanes of backed up traffic in a hurry like a bike, even with the flashy lights. 3. If you are not squidding it when you split most cops are not going to bother with the hassle of even trying to pull you over. There are other threads on here that discuss this issue until you get sick of reading them. Welcome to Ohio Fin.

[TimTheAzn]

On 3/25/2017 at 0:31 AM, Isaac's Papa said:

College town. Keep those expectations near the knees. 

It's 2017. Ankles.

[jschaf]

I split lanes in Ohio today. No arrests were made.