Lane-Splitting Will Soon Be Legal for Motorcycles in Montana
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Montana governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill this week that will allow motorcyclists to ride between lanes in certain traffic conditions. The new law means Montana joins California and Utah in officially recognizing lane-splitting as a legal form of riding.
Montana bill S.B.9, which goes into effect October 1, 2021, says that motorcyclists are allowed to split between other motorists when the lanes are wide enough, road conditions are safe, and the rider is traveling under 20 mph. When splitting lanes, the motorcyclist must stay within 10 mph of ambient traffic speeds.
The motorcycle-loving folks at the American Motorcyclist Association are big fans of lane-splitting, and were happy to see the progress made in Montana.
“We applaud the efforts of Montana’s motorcycling community and the state’s legislators, and thank Gov. Gianforte for signing this legislation into law,” Russ Ehnes, chair of the AMA Board of Directors, said in a statement.
“As lane-splitting support continues to gain traction across the country, I am eager to help more motorcyclists engage their state legislatures on this issue,” said Tiffany Cipoletti, AMA's on-highway government relations manager.
Motorcyclists have long known that, when done safely and conscientiously, lane-splitting cuts down on traffic congestion, and can prevent deadly accidents caused by stop-and-go traffic. As a motorcyclist, I wrote in 2019, "There are countless ways things can go wrong when riding a motorcycle, but one of the most prominent fears is to have some iPhone-focused car driver rear-end you while sitting in traffic or at a stoplight." When riding between lanes safely, that kind of a crash is much less likely.
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