Understanding Washington’s Lane Splitting Laws: A Security Perspective
Among the many laws that govern the movement of people, goods, and assets are those related to the operation of roadway vehicles. Security professionals, including security engineers, who find themselves designing and helping implement security systems in transit installations should be conversant not just with the general regulations for transportation security but also those specific to the operational units of transportation security: the various transportation departments that manage transportation sectors.
In US states, the regulations for roadways are usually administered by the department of transportation. This includes right of way issues, traffic enforcement, and identifying and rectifying physical hazards. In this context, the role of security systems is particularly pronounced, having to do with traffic monitoring, control, and enforcement (i.e., to help keep road users safe while on the road and having a security presence on the ground to enforce rules and regulations).
When it comes to roadway security, one issue that needs to be taken into account when designing and implementing security systems has to do with how motorcyclists actually use the roads. For instance, in some states, motorcyclists may adopt a practice known as riding between lanes, whereby they ride between lanes of vehicles to move forward on the road. Some motorcyclists claim that this is safer when done at low speeds, while some safety agencies such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Association claim that they have categorized this as an unsafe behavior. The state of Washington, for example, has currently banned this practice-either through the implementation or proposed implementation of relevant laws.
In Washington State, as well as in most other US states, motorcyclists must obey all traffic laws, as with all other roadway vehicles. However, the Washington legislature passed a law codifying traffic safety regulations for motorcyclists in 2006 that is still in effect (RCW 46.37.270). This law prohibits motorcycling in between lanes, regardless of whether the state department of transportation considers this a safe practice.
The NHTSA has indicated that the Washington legislature does have a strong argument when they argue that some motorcyclists may purposely violate traffic laws, perhaps because they hope that they might gain speed and time by riding in between lanes. It is easier for them to do that in Washington State than it is in other US states, given that lane splitting-which, again, is what motorcyclists do when they ride between lanes of traffic-has been made outright illegal.
The concern that the Washington State legislature identified is that motorcyclists can ride between lanes of traffic and startle automobile drivers, perhaps hitting other vehicles as they do so. This can cause chain accidents, involving the near-collision of a motorcyclist with one or more automobile drivers. In and of itself, though, that driver might swerve off the road to avoid hitting the motorcyclist and crash into a tree, telephone pole, or roadside barrier. An example in 2003 showed how this can happen during an interstate accident in the state of Kentucky: one motorist had almost collided with a lane-splitting motorcyclist headed in the opposite direction, and in doing so swerved into oncoming interstate traffic, resulting in a major pile-up. At least 27 people were killed.
The Washington State legislature and the NHTSA gave the following reasons for how lane splitting potentially causes accidents: Another issue is that lane splitting places motorcyclists in a much closer proximity to other vehicles. These vehicles may change lanes abruptly or be driven aggressively, such as by commercial truck drivers. Given that the average 2-motorcycle-wide lane is much smaller than the width of the average commercial truck, this practice forces motorcyclists into the amount of space between two lanes of traffic. If they misjudge someone’s acceleration speed or the spacing between vehicles, they might end up caught in between traffic and seriously injured or killed.
Many states prohibit motorists from driving in between lanes as well, as they might impede the flow of traffic. In some states in the US, traffic islands and other barriers along the stripes between lanes of traffic prevent motor vehicles from crossing over to allow themselves to pass others. In other cases, states have managed these issues by placing them on the roads themselves rather than by regulating traffic. In 2010 in Minnesota, for example, a Braun intercity bus ran into a traffic barrier, killing four people. That barrier along the highway was there to stop lane-splitting motorists from violating the lane separation law, but those four people were killed when they ran into the barrier.