LaneSplitting

Ask your legislators for lane filtering

Traffic law is state law, so the change has to come from your statehouse. Here is how to reach the two or so people who represent you there, and a message you can make your own.

  1. Find your state legislators

    Most people have one state senator and one state representative. Nebraska has a single chamber, so riders there have one senator. You need your home address to look them up.

    Look up your reps at mystatereps.com

    Or use your legislature’s own lookup, listed for every state at the bottom of this page.

  2. Send a short message

    Email works, and a letter or a call to the office works too. Say that you live in the district, say that you ride, and ask one clear question. Use the sample below as a starting point and put your own reasons in your own words.

    A sample to adapt

    Subject: Please support legal lane filtering for motorcycles Dear [Senator or Representative] [Last name], I live in [town], in your district, and I ride a motorcycle [to work / on weekends / year round]. I’m asking you to support a bill that would let motorcyclists in [state] filter: move slowly between lanes of stopped or nearly stopped traffic, under firm limits on speed and where it is allowed. When traffic stops, I sit between two cars with no protection if the driver behind me doesn’t stop in time. Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Utah already allow filtering under limits like these, and California has allowed lane splitting for years. A UC Berkeley study of California crashes found that riders who were splitting lanes in slower traffic were injured less often than other riders who crashed. I know drivers worry about being surprised, and police worry about enforcement. A law with a low speed limit, a stopped-traffic requirement and some driver education answers much of that. Could you tell me where you stand? I’d be glad to talk with you or your staff. Thank you, [Your name] [Street address, so they know you are a constituent] [Email or phone]

  3. Point them to a working law

    Legislators like a model they can copy. Each state where filtering or splitting is legal has a page here with its statute and rules. Link the one closest to what you want.

  4. Stay polite, and follow up

    If you get a reply, thank them. If a bill is introduced, the legislature’s site will list its hearings and how to submit testimony. We only report bills here after checking them on the legislature’s own site. Get our updates by email if you’d like to hear about them.

Official legislator lookups

Each link goes to the legislature’s own “find your legislator” page.