LANE FILTERING IN

BRITISH COLUMBIA
Improving BC's Transportation Systems
and Reducing BC's Cost of Living

Prepared by Lane Filter British Columbia

May 2017
Proposal

To legalize lane filtering in BC within the following parameters:

1) Motorcycles must maintain a speed of 30 kilometers per hour or less while filtering.

2) Motorcycles must filter to the left, and must not filter next to the curb, on the shoulder, next to parked vehi-
cles, or in school zones.

3) Only riders holding a Class 6 license shall be permitted to lane filter.

4) Motorcyclists must comply with all existing road rules when lane filtering. This includes stopping before the
stop line at a red traffic light or stop sign, never in front or over it.

5) Motorcyclists must only lane filter when it is safe to do so.

Safety Advantages
Rear-End Collision Avoidance
ICBCs reports indicate that the rate of rear-end crashes
resulting in injury has increased faster than any other type
of accident, having gone up 14% in BC from 2009 to 2014;
a figure largely resulting from a corollary rise in distract-
ed driving.1 According to the Canadian Council of Motor
Transport Administrators, BC has the highest observed
rate of personal electronic devices (PEDs) by drivers among
Canadian provinces (B.C. was 5.5 per cent; Canadian aver-
age was 4.4 per cent). ICBC conservatively estimates that
distracted driving is a contributing factor in roughly 25 to
33 per cent of crashes reported to ICBC.2
By allowing motorcycles to utilize the space between
stopped or slow-moving lanes of traffic, motorcyclists and
scooters effectively remove themselves from the path of
vehicle traffic approaching from the rear, which in turn ne-
gates the risk of a motorcyclist being struck from behind.
The European MAIDS study, which examined motorcycle
accidents across five countries over three years and in-
cluded a sample size of 921 accidents, found that motor-
cyclists that were lane filtering were more than six times
less likely to be involved in an accident than motorcyclists
stopped in traffic conventionally.3
Likewise, a comparison of rear-end crash data compar-
ing the rate of fatal accidents wherein a motorcycle was
struck from behind (per 100,000 registered motorcycles)
revealed that California, where lane splitting is legal, pos-
sesses a rate roughly three times lower than states with
similar riding environments; just over 1 in 100,000 motor-
cyclists is killed in such a scenario in California while over
3 in 100,000 are killed in Arizona, Texas and Florida.4 This
data point is especially relevant given the MAIDS study
strongly linked population density with accident rates,
finding almost 75% of all motorcycle accidents occur in ur-
ban environments. The population of Los Angeles urban
sprawl (3.9 million) is well over double the size of any city
in any of those comparable states with the exception of
Houston (2.2 million).
Intersection Collision Prevention
Furthermore, the practice of lane filtering allows motor-
cyclists to be more visible near intersections, which are
historically the most dangerous places for motorcyclists.
While rear-end collisions are the most common accident
on the roads today, the most common injurious or fatal
motorcycle accidents involve being struck by an oncom-
ing left-turning vehicle or a vehicle turning right onto the
road way in the path of a motorcycle3. Allowing motor-
cycles to filter moves motorcycle and scooter traffic to
the first position at an intersection in urban environs, en-
suring they are visible to all oncoming traffic, rather than
hidden behind larger vehicles. If a motorcycle must rejoin
a lane before reaching the front of the queue, they will
be bracketed by more visible vehicles fore and aft, rather
than trailing traffic where oncoming left-turning vehicles
cannot see them. Additionally, by allowing motorcycles to
lane filter, motorists are made more aware of the motor-
cyclists around them due to the increased visibility of mo-
torcyclists filtering through traffic.
Injury Prevention
A new study by the University of Berkley studied the prac-
tice of lane filtering and splitting in California and found
that lane splitting is objectively safer than the alternative
if traffic is moving at 50 mph or less, and if motorcyclists
do not exceed the speed of traffic by 15 mph.5 The study
also found that lane filtering was at its safest when traf-
fic was moving at 30 mph or less, and motorcyclists were
exceeding the speed of traffic by no more than 10 mph.
When those conditions were met, the Berkley study found
lane-filtering motorcyclists were notably less likely to suf-
fer head injury (9.1 per cent versus 16.5 per cent), torso
injury (18.6 per cent vs. 27.3 per cent) or fatal injury (1.4
per cent vs. 3.1 per cent) than other motorcyclists. Addi-
tionally, the Berkley study found lane splitting motorcylists
were also more likely to wear safer protective gear Includ-
ing safer helmets, less likely to speed, and were less likely
to be under the influence of alcohol.
Congestion Abatement
The Lower Mainlands traffic congestion issues are well
known. Vancouver perennially ranks as one of the worlds
most congested cities6 due to a number of factors. The ge-
ography of the region, with numerous water crossings, as
well as the volatile housing market all play a role in creating
congestion. Employees are forced ever-farther from their
workplaces by rising house prices. Difficulty in procuring
funding and the structural makeup of the region's govern-
ing bodies conspire to prevent infrastructure expansion.
But while infrastructure growth is difficult, lane filtering
provides an easy and affordable efficiency countermea-
sure to BC's congestion woes.
A Belgian study found that if just 10% of motorists were
to commute by motorcycle, travel times for all road us-
ers would be reduced by eight minutes per journey, which
represented a 63% reduction in travel time. The same
study also found total emissions on major thoroughfares
would be reduced by 6%.7 One would expect similar effec-
tiveness on the availability of parking in urban areas.
Furthermore, the emphasis placed on increasing housing
density in some of the province's most congested areas
precludes car ownership for many, but would still allow
for scooters or motorcycle ownership. Paired with the ex-
panding mass transit network or any of the burgeoning car
share programs in operation, lane filtering may provide
the incentive required to convince Vancouver commuters
to trade their passenger car for more efficient modes of
transportation without sacrificing their self-reliance.
Adoption
By placing stringent parameters on lane filtering to in-
crease safety for all road users, little motorist education
would be required. Strictly regulating lane filtering in the
manner proposed reduces the degree of cooperation re-
quired of motorists and places the responsibility on the
motorcyclists that choose to lane filter. Put another way,
by regulating lane filtering with such proposed measures
as an easily enforceable speed limit, situations where mo-
torcyclists will be able to legally filter will be situations
wherein automobile drivers need not be proactive or re-
active to filtering motorcyclists; all motorists need do is
continue to drive their vehicles as they currently do.
Individuals with Class 6 licenses can be informed of the
change in law by mail, while those motorists without a
Class 6 but who ride motor scooters can be made aware
of the changes at ICBC Autoplan agencies with notices
and pamphlets given to all those obtaining insurance for
motorcycles and motor scooters. A modest advertising
capaign utilizing conventional and social media co-opting
the standard rhetoric during May's Motorcycle Awareness
campaign would serve as adequate notice to motorists.
ICBC study guides and handbooks would be updated to
reflect the regulations surrounding lane filtering.
By legalizing filtering through the amendment of MVA Sec-
tion 157 (1) Duty when overtaking to include the afore-
mentioned proposed regulations limiting filtering behavior
to specific road conditions, the legal onus of responsibility
would lie on the motorcyclist engaged in filtering.
Conclusion Contact

Given the economic environment in many parts of BC, Daniel Fritter

where home prices are pushing many away from the dgfritter@gmail.com
metropolitan cores they work and recreate in, allowing 604-790-3136
lane filtering for motorcycles and scooters would increase
the adoption of such vehicles within the most congested
and urban areas, and provide many with an affordable
method of transportation while simultaneously alle-
viating some of the burden on our transit system and
roadways. Often citing European cities as models for BCs
urban transportation plans such as the incorporation
of bicycle lanes and bike share programs, the adoption
of lane filtering as is practiced across Europe, is a logi-
cal next step for British Columbia. And given the safety
ramifications of an ever-increasing number of distracted
drivers on roads that are ever-more congested, British
Columbia cannot afford not to.

References

1: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/ICB-
C+applies+hike+fees+cent+come+November+updat-
ed/10150385/story.html

2: http://www.icbc.com/about-icbc/newsroom/Docu-
ments/2014Sept04/Backgrounder.pdf

3: http://www.maids-study.eu/pdf/MAIDS2.pdf (Table
5.7)

4: http://www.ridetowork.org/files/docs/LANE_SHAR-
ING_A_GLOBAL_SOLUTION_FOR_MOTORCYCLE_SAFETY.
pdf

5: http://news.berkeley.edu/2015/05/29/motorcy-
cle-lanesplitting-report/

6: http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/jesse-
kline-vancouvers-traffic-headaches-result-from-poor-city-
planning

7: http://www.tmleuven.be/project/motorcyclesandcom-
muting/home.htm