Arizona is considering a bill that would allow Arizonian motorcyclists to lane-split when traffic is stopped. The proposed bill should make motorcyclists happy and help relieve some traffic congestion; however all is not well in the Grand Canyon State. After the proposal of bill HB 2475, the local ABC affiliate went to the streets to ask citizens what they thought of the proposal, and the reaction they got was not a positive one.
Motorcyclists here in California have been enjoying the privilege of lane-splitting for some time now, a fact that seems to be escaping many anti-lane splitting advocates who view lane splitting as an unfeasible and unsafe hypothesis. As such, Arizona seems to be just another state that is meeting the concept with strong resistance and pre-conceived notions.
It’s unclear how popular HB 2475 is in the Arizonian legislature, but if the proposal should go through, it would see a one year test of the law occur in Maricopa County (Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, etc) during the 2011 calendar year. Presumably if the test was successful (we’re not sure what would define success in this matter), it would then be expanded to encompass the entire state in 2012.
Source: Motorcycles.About.com; Photo: omniNate/ Creative Commons – Attribution 2.0 Generic
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