Get Mad All You Want, But Lane Filtering Is Legal In Utah

I have a friend that begins figuratively spitting nails every time he's stopped at a stop light and a motorcycle skips to the front of the line by squeezing between cars.

"That's so fricking dangerous!"

"I should open my door real fast and teach him a lesson."

"What an idiot! Does he want to die?!"

I've got new for my friend and for a lot of Utah drivers. Lane filtering is absolutely legal.

There are a few stipulations that must be followed (which I'll outline below), but getting mad or even threatening to "open your door real fast" is just plain silly.

The idea behind lane filtering is that if a motorcycle gets rear-ended while sitting stopped at an intersection (an all-too-common type of accident), it could be deadly. A simple fender-bender to a car may cause catastrophic injuries to a motorcyclist.

So here are the main requirements for lane filtering to be allowed:

1. It must be on a roadway that is divided into two or more adjacent traffic lanes in the same direction of travel.
2. The roadway must be a 45-miles per hour or less speed limit.
3. All cars being passed must be completely stopped at a traffic light or stop sign.
4. The motorcycle musty not be traveling faster than 15 MPH during the lane filtering.

One thing I've learned after having been in a motorcycle wreck myself is that you always lose, no matter how right you are on a motorcycle.

Do to those injuries I sustained, I am not allowed to ride anymore and this is a relatively new law, so I don't know if I would lane filter or not.

But I know that I will defend the right of motorcyclists to do it considering their lives may be on the line.

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