Lane Sharing SB 506

This year the Texas Legislature has a bill before them that would allow Motorcycles to "Lane Share".  SB506 pretty much states that if traffic is moving at a speed of no more than 20 miles an hour, you are not in school zone and both the passenger and rider are wearing a helmet a motorcycle may cut between lanes at a speed of no more than five miles over the speed of traffic. I am a long time motorcycle rider and am very much for this bill. I tried to find some good opposition sites but was really only able to find opposition in the comments section of most the sites I was researching. Some sites worth visiting are: Motorcycle Cruiser, About.com, andAutoBlogGreen.  Here is a really good video of a California News Station KCRA discussing motorcycle safety and has two different law enforcement agencies showing different positions on the Lane Sharing.  Here is a video of Lane Sharing taking place. 

 

So now that I have given you a lot of background and information on lane sharing lets discuss. Like anything, statistics can be manipulated to show what one group wants them to show so I will leave those out and simply base the rest of this article on my personal opinions. SB 506 has many advantages and is really much safer than some may perceive it to be. One of the biggest factors of this bill is that it promotes helmet safety. Currently in the State of Texas you don't have to wear a helmet if: 

1) You are over the age of 21 and have either 

           a) More than 10,000 of life insurance (you have to show proof and pay ten dollars for a sticker to put on your bike)

          b) Taken a Motorcycle Safety Course

 

SB 506 requires riders to wear a helmet if they are lane sharing and like many other riders I choose to not wear a helmet but this new bill already has me shopping for a nice full face helmet.  I would much rather have the ability to legally share lanes than to not wear a helmet. 

 

Second, it promotes drivers to give up the cars and take their bikes. Think about how many motorcycle riders would choose to ride and get through rush hour traffic in no time flat!  This will free up space on the roads and is like adding an HOV lane without the extra costs.  If more people rode motorcycles that would also help the environment, motorcycles offer a smaller footprint than most cars and get better gas mileage than most cars.

 

Motorcycles are usually not radiator cooled like a car and gripping the clutch every few minutes in stop and go traffic can be very painful for a person’s hands. Allowing motorcycle riders to continue moving helps their motorcycles last longer and makes for a less stressful ride.

 

The list goes on and most experienced motorcycle riders are for the bill. It doesn’t affect the safety of other drivers on the road . What do you think?  Should Texas pass SB 506?