New lane splitting bill introduced by CA Assemblyman Bill Quirk (Democrat) of CA AD 20 yesterday,

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calif

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nia le

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20

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16 r

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gul

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ASSEMBL

Y BILL

No. 51

Intr

oduced by

Assembly Member Quirk

December 1, 2014

An act to amend Section 21658 of the

V

ehicle Code, relating to

v

ehicles.

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AB 51, as introduced,

Quirk

.

V

ehicles: motorc

ycles: lane splitting.

(1)

Existing la

w requires, whene

v

er a roadw

ay has been di

vided into

2 or more clearly mark

ed lanes for traffic in one direction, that a v

ehicle

shall be dri

v

en as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane and

shall not be mo

v

ed from the lane until the mo

v

ement can be made with

reasonable safety

.

A violation of the

V

ehicle Code is a crime.

This bill w

ould authorize a motorc

ycle to be dri

v

en between ro

ws of

stopped or mo

ving v

ehicles in the same lane if the speed of traffic is

35 miles per hour or less and the motorc

ycle is dri

v

en no more than 10

miles per hour f

aster than the speed of traffic.

The bill w

ould pro

vide

that these pro

visions do not authorize a motorc

ycle to be dri

v

en in

contra

v

ention of other la

ws relating to the safe operation of a v

ehicle.

By creating a ne

w crime this bill w

ould impose a state-mandated local

program.

(2)

The California Constitution requires the state to reimb

urse local

agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.

Statutory pro

visions establish procedures for making that reimb

ursement.

This bill w

ould pro

vide that no reimb

ursement is required by this act

for a specified reason.

V

ote: majority

.

Appropriation: no.

Fiscal committee: yes.

State-mandated local program: yes.