Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site calmasd.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!lll-crg!dual!qantel!hplabs!sdcrdcf!sdcsvax!sdcc3!sdcc6!calmasd!rfc
From: rfc@calmasd.UUCP (Robert Clayton)
Newsgroups: net.auto,net.cycle
Subject: Re: Motorcycles driving between lanes -- legal?
Message-ID: <581@calmasd.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 9-Oct-85 20:00:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: calmasd.581
Posted: Wed Oct  9 20:00:24 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 15-Oct-85 06:16:05 EDT
References: <102@sdcc7.UUCP> <1677@peora.UUCP> <536@qantel.UUCP>
Organization: Calma Company, San Diego, CA
Lines: 28
Xref: linus net.auto:7473 net.cycle:961

> >What I want to know is this:  Is it legal (in California, or anywhere)
> >for motorcycles to drive between lanes, or on the shoulders, when traffic
> >is backed up?  
> 
> In Illinois, the law you are breaking when you do this is one that says
> you can't pass a car on the right unless you have six feet of clearance.
> This is what they get you for when you are caught going down the dotted
> lines.  Of course, motorcyclists who do this are hard to catch, unless
> the cop is also on a motorcycle.
> -- 

A California cyclist once told me that in California it is not legal to
have more than two vehicles abreast in a single lane.  This is supposed
to allow two cyclist to ride abreast in the same lane, a site I often
see and have no problem with.  Many cyclists are interpreting this to
mean that they can pass cars *provided* they stay in the same lane.

On many of our skinny parking lots (freeways) you will see cyclists
running down the dotted line between the stopped cars during rush hour.
Said cyclist also said that sometimes they are ticketed for reckless
driving when they cross the dotted line because they often must weave
across the line to make their way between cars.

Another law that arrests them is the law of physics when a motorist
opens his door to see why the traffic stopped.

Bob Clayton
GE Calma San Diego R&D