Now You Can Lanesplit In Arizona (Sort Of)

[advrider]

It’s been months of waiting, but as of September 24, 2022, motorcycle lane sharing is legal in the state of Arizona.

The change comes after months of waiting for signed paperwork to become law. Back in March, Arizona’s governor signed Senate Bill 173, and since then we’ve just been waiting for it to actually come into effect. SB173 contains this wording:

F. The operator of a two-wheeled motorcycle may overtake and pass another vehicle that is stopped in the same direction of travel and in the same lane as the operator and may operate the motorcycle between lanes of traffic if the movement may be made safely and if the operator does both of the following:

1. operates The motorcycle on a street that both:

(a) Is divided into at least two adjacent traffic lanes in the same direction of travel.

(b) Has a speed limit that does not exceed forty-five miles per hour.

2. travels at a speed that does not exceed fifteen miles per hour.

So, it’s not free-for-all lanesplitting like we see in California and much of the rest of the world. Riders have a set of rules they must play by, and if they don’t, then chances are that law enforcement will raise the issue with them. Or maybe they won’t. It’s hard to predict what exactly will happen once the practice becomes more common-place.

We’ve seen no word yet on auto drivers’ reaction to the change, but riders in Arizona would be very wise to exercise their new traffic rights very very carefully, as there will be plenty of danger from inattentive or even angry cagers in the weeks to come.

However, it’s progress in the right direction. At this point, motorcycle lane sharing is legal in California, Utah, Montana and Arizona. Other states in the US continue to examine the idea of lane sharing, and we expect further progress on this obvious solution to gridlock in the months and years to come.

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