Helping Pass the Oregon Lane Splitting/Sharing Bill

Information on how to help get the Oregon lane splitting / sharing bill passed behind the link.

COPY & PASTE the following message and send to your Senator.

Not sure who your Senator is? Click here to find out: http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/

Dear Oregon State Representative,

I am writing to encourage you to support Oregon Senate Bill 0541, introduced by Oregon Senator Larry George.

As it’s practiced in California, lane-sharing offers a way to reduce congestion by creating an additional lane for motorcyclists to use when traffic is stopped or slow moving. It conserves energy in two ways. First, it keeps the motorcyclist and other traffic, to a lesser degree, moving. A moving vehicle is more energy efficient than a stopped vehicle plus the commute time is reduced further reducing energy use. Second, it promotes the motorcycle as an alternative form of transportation. Motorcycles get between 35-90 mpg which beats the average car, SUV, or light truck by a huge margin. Lane-sharing may actually be safer for the motorcyclist than being sandwiched between two larger vehicles in stop-and-go traffic. Additionally, some motorcycles (particularly air-cooled) don’t do well in a stopped or slow moving environment and must keep moving to avoid engine damage.

One inexpensive, simple, effective, and immediate way to reduce traffic congestion is to permit motorcyclists to travel between two slow moving lanes of traffic. Doing so adds capacity to every existing four-lane road in the entire state of Oregon. In California where “lane-splitting” is legal, common place, and has been found to enhance motorcycle safety, it is embraced as a significant component of traffic congestion reduction.

Proponents of lane splitting state the Hurt Report of 1981 reached the conclusion that lane splitting improves motorcycle safety by reducing rear end crashes. Lane splitting supporters also state that the US DOT FARS database shows that fatalities from rear end collisions into motorcycles are 30% lower in California than in Florida or Texas, states with similar riding seasons and populations but which do not lane split. The database is available online to the public. The NHSTA does say, based on the Hurt Report, that lane splitting “slightly reduces” rear-end accidents, and is worthy of further study due to the possible congestion reduction benefits.

Thank you for your consideration of SB 0541.

(Name)

(Address)

(City, State, zip code)

(e-mail)

[ for more information on why this bill should pass, click here ]