Lane-splitting—everybody who rides a motorcycle has heard of it, and given the right traffic conditions, many bikers have probably considered doing it. Riding between slow-moving cars to move through traffic is one of the potential advantages of piloting a narrow vehicle like a motorcycle, but the practice is outlawed in almost every state except for one—California.

How Could California Legalizing Motorcycle Lane-Splitting Affect Colorado?

There are no laws in California that make lane-splitting illegal, but there are also no laws that make the practice legal. Because of this gray legal status, the California DMV and Highway Patrol released guidelines to lane-splitting safely. However, critics claimed the publication was an endorsement of the practice and so the publication was stopped last year, but supporters of lane-splitting are still moving forward.

A bill that would legalize lane-splitting and regulate the practice passed a vote in the California State Assembly. The bill had bipartisan support, and a study from UC Berkeley showed evidence that lane-splitting was actually safer for motorcyclists in traffic. This didn’t stop the bill from stalling out during this year’s legislative session, but if it does eventually come to a vote—and is passed—it could change the way lane-splitting is treated all over the country.

Legalizing lane-splitting has been considered in Washington, Nevada, Tennessee, Oregon and other states. In Texas the bill stalled out before voting—just like the California bill—and in Arizona a similar lane-splitting bill was passed in the legislature and then vetoed by the state’s governor. Considering how popular motorcycling is here in Colorado, the passage of any of these bills could pave the way for such legislation in our state.

Do you think that lane-splitting is a good idea for Colorado? Is the practice really safer than sitting in traffic? Tell us what you think on Twitter and Facebook.