04/05/2025
I just sent out emails to our twelve individual representatives. It didn't take very long.
Here's what I wrote:
As a constituent and an Oregon motorcyclist, I respectfully request your support of Oregon House Bill 3542. HB3542 would legalize a limited form of motorcycle lane filtering, helping reduce congestion, benefiting the environment, and increasing rider safety.
I’m a 64-year-old Portland native and life-long resident. I'm also a professional commercial truck driver with a Class A CDL.
I earned the motorcycle endorsement on my Oregon driver’s license in 1986, and have been commuting to work on my motorcycle nearly every day since. My wife and son are also street riders, as are my brother and brother in-law. My father was a street rider. I have been working in the motorcycle industry since 1998, and was a motorcycle safety instructor for a decade, both with Team Oregon and with Harley-Davidson’s Rider’s Edge Program.
I request that you support HB3542 in favor of safe and legal lane sharing for scooters and motorcycles. Safe and legal lane filtering will reduce traffic congestion for everyone, reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gases, and improve safety for motorcyclists.
I understand that you might be 'surprised to hear that it increases rider safety.' Please allow me to explain.
Allowing motorcyclists to ride between lanes gets us out of the more vulnerable position of potential rear-ender crashes. Although lane sharing increases the risk of a sideswipe incident, it reduces the risks of rear-ender crashes. A motorcyclist can avoid a sideswipe incident more easily than a rear-ender. A sideswipe incident is typically less damaging to vehicles, and less injurious to drivers, passengers, and riders.
The Australian state of New South Wales had recently legalized lane filtering for motorcyclists, for the sake of safety. I encourage you to read their report by searching for the following (non-hyperlinked) website:
By permitting scooters and motorcycles to filter through congested traffic, we permit those cars and trucks behind us to advance. Lane sharing creates new lanes on the freeways and highways without the expense and inconvenience of widening or rebuilding the roads.
As a commercial truck driver, it is easier for me to see motorcyclists in my rear-view mirrors if they are on the dotted-line between lanes than if they were directly behind me. I would also have a greater space cushion for braking-distance if motorcyclists are on the dotted lines than if they are directly in front of me.
Some ask if lane splitting is dangerous. Everything we do is dangerous. Driving is dangerous. Bicycling is dangerous. Skiing, snowboarding, and hot-tubing are dangerous. Celebrating the Fourth of July is dangerous. Going to the shopping mall, going to school, and going to church are dangerous. We can’t eliminate danger, but we can reduce it.
There will be some who believe that lane filtering allows motorcyclists to cheat their way through traffic, and that it isn’t fair. Life isn’t fair. It isn’t fair that rich people get to live in big houses. It isn’t fair that some people get to drive a car to work, while others take the bus. It isn’t fair that some people don’t pay for parking while others do. Many others will see scooters and motorcycles making progress through traffic jams, and consider riding the motorcycle to work and leaving the car at home, removing a car from the traffic mix.
We have a way to improve safety, reduce traffic congestion and fuel consumption, and it is sitting there in front of us. Please support HB3542.
