topman

Greetings!

I'm not sure what the procedure is to have this posted in the other area threads, so I'll stick with home today, and re-post what Steve Nelson had to say in the latest issue of The Shaft:

"The Washington State Legislature is
once again considering a bill to
legalize “lane filtering” or “lane
splitting” in the State. For those
of you that have not ridden in
California, lane filtering is the
ability to move between cars
either when they are stopped, or
during low speed traffic flow. The
current bill under consideration
would legalize this practice under
the following conditions:
• The rider cannot operate the
motorcycle more than 10 mph
above the rate of traffic
• The maximum speed of a lane
filtering ride cannot be more
than 35 mph.
• Drivers cannot obstruct
motorcyclists that are lane
filtering
So what does this mean in a
practical situation? Say you are
riding along and come up on a
moving traffic jam. The traffic is
moving at 25 mph. You can ride
between the lanes of traffic at a
maximum of 35 mph, which is
10 mph greater than the flow
of traffic.
Now say the traffic is moving at
35 mph. Since this is the
maximum speed allow by lane
filtering, you cannot ride between
the moving lanes of traffic.
You can also move between
traffic lanes when stopped to get
ahead of the traffic at stop lights.
Lane filtering can be a benefit to
both motorcyclists and to traffic
as a whole. Motorcyclists, by
moving out of the flow of traffic
free up spaces for automobiles,
thus providing more traffic
capacity. In addition, studies in
California have shown that lane
filtering has some statistical
effect on reducing rear end
accidents involving motorcycles
and automobiles by removing
the motorcycle from the flow
of traffic.
If you are interested in letting
your legislator know you support
this initiative (HB 1106), go the
following link and provide your
comments in support:
Comment on HB 1106
You will be asked for your
address to verify your legislative
district and indicate your
representatives.
I would encourage all members
that support this effort to make
your voices heard so we can get
this initiative passed."

topman

I have already received responses from [EDITED] two of my state Congresspersons[/EDITED], with one suggesting that they wish to hear more positive input from the community, so PLEASE click on the 'Comment' link (in the article I pasted, above) to have your voice heard.

Flyboymedic

Lane spitting legislation

topman

Thank you, FBM!

juanitotheclumsy

Good post! I have sent my message.

This bill is being sponsored solely by Republicans. I am a staunch liberal. But Republicans do have good ideas, and this is one of them. To be honest, Democrats do not seem to support sensible motorcycle-related legislation often, and I can't figure out why. Maybe they're afraid of sea-life; squids and pirates.

Akdawg

This bill and others are submitted by ABATE of Washington. A lot of time and effort is spent getting "sponsors" for the bills (legislators). ABATE is a volunteer membership made up of conservative and liberals to promote motorcycle safety and awareness, its not politically oriented nor is it just grey haired HOG riders.
If more west side riders would connect with their Democrat representatives perhaps we can get things moving in a bi partisan fashion, they do listen to their constituents (read votes). Many times now I've approached legislators to promote our legislation only to be asked the question "are you a constituent of my district"?. And dismissed when answering no...so there you have it ...

tod701

HINT: You only have one State Senator.

tod701

Since both this bill and HB1251 are House bills don't bother your Senator, they won't care until if/when it gets passed by the House and sent to the Senate.

More productive action is to tell both of your House of Representatives members, or if you are ambitious you can contact the members of the House Transportation Committee. It is up to them to passes it out of committee.

Their email addresses:

Jake.Fey@leg.wa.gov
Dan.Bronoske@leg.wa.gov
Andrew.Barkis@leg.wa.gov
Sharon.Wylie@leg.wa.gov
Vandana.Slatter@leg.wa.gov
Javier.Valdez@leg.wa.gov
Jim.Walsh@leg.wa.gov
Liz.Berry@leg.wa.gov
Mike.Chapman@leg.wa.gov
Tom.Dent@leg.wa.gov
Davina.Duerr@leg.wa.gov
Debra.Entenman@leg.wa.gov
Carolyn.Eslick@leg.wa.gov
Keith.Goehner@leg.wa.gov
Dan.Griffey@leg.wa.gov
David.Hackney@leg.wa.gov
Mark.Klicker@leg.wa.gov
John.Lovick@leg.wa.gov
Bob.McCaslin@leg.wa.gov
Ed.Orcutt@leg.wa.gov
Dave.Paul@leg.wa.gov
Alex.Ramel@leg.wa.gov
Bill.Ramos@leg.wa.gov
Marcus.Riccelli@leg.wa.gov
Robert.Sutherland@leg.wa.gov
Jamila.Taylor@leg.wa.gov
Mike.Volz@leg.wa.gov
Emily.Wicks@leg.wa.gov

topman

*BONK* YOU ARE CORRECT!!

wa stewy

Comment left on link. Thanks for the post!