Nevada lawmakers considered a measure Friday that would allow motorcyclists to skip traffic jams by driving between the lanes — as long as they're careful.
Assemblyman Skip Daly, D-Sparks, presented AB236 to members of the Senate transportation committee as a safety bill.
"When you have the ability to do lane splitting, it increases the statistics about the safety of the road," Daly said.
It also addresses overheating problems because many motorcycles are air-cooled and don't do well idling in traffic when it's hot outside, a particular concern for riders in southern Nevada, he added. The same is true for the riders who often wear heavy leather for safety.
The bill allows motorcyclists to drive up to 10 mph faster than slow-moving traffic, and up to a maximum of 30 mph. Lane splitting would only be allowed when there are at least two lanes going the same direction.
Currently, only on-duty police officers are allowed to split traffic. California is the only state that allows civilians to lane split.
