Lane Splitting Laws and Motorcycle Accident Claims

Despite the numerous measures taken in America to make roads safe, there is still an issue of motorcycle crashes. These incidents increase the likelihood of injuries sustained while riding a motorcycle.

According to the data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 16% of fatalities in traffic are related to motorcycles, which can be surprising since motorcycles constitute only 3% of registered vehicles and 0.6% of vehicle miles traveled in 2024. The lack of safety features of a motorcycle leads to injuries ranging from head trauma and spinal injuries to broken bones.

Motorcycle riders have very little control over the dangers on the roadway. Accidents involving motorcycles can be caused by drunk drivers, hazardous traffic conditions and being caught in the blind spot of other drivers. Motorcyclists are often forced off the road by drivers switching lanes.

Lane splitting involves a motorcycle riding between the lanes of vehicles, typically where the vehicles are moving slowly or have stopped. Lane splitting is legal to varying degrees depending on location within the country, since each state enacts its own motorcycle legislation. Lane splitting may be legal in one state but illegal in another.

According to motorcycle accident lawyer Matthew Aaron, individuals who have suffered a personal injury may be unsure about whom to ask for assistance. Since motorcyclists frequently suffer serious injuries in accidents, it is important for an injured party to know their rights and the implications of the lane-splitting laws in an accident claim.

Where Lane Splitting Is Allowed

California is the only state that allows full lane splitting through moving traffic. Minnesota, Utah, Montana, Arizona and Colorado permit a narrower version called lane filtering, which applies only when surrounding vehicles are stopped or barely moving.

Assembly Bill 51 was signed in August 2016 and added Section 21658.1 to the Vehicle Code on January 1, 2017. It defined lane splitting for the first time in state law and directed the California Highway Patrol to publish safety guidelines. California’s lane-splitting rules set no speed cap. Older California Highway Patrol guidance suggested staying within 10 mph of surrounding traffic and avoiding splitting once the traffic flow reaches 30 mph. Insurers still reference those figures even though current CHP guidance is principle-based rather than numeric.

If you want a closer look at how lane splitting is handled in California and how liability is weighed when a split somehow ends in a collision, you must familiarize yourself with the state-specific lane splitting rules for riders.

Where It Remains a Violation

Under Nevada Revised Statutes 486.351, a motorcyclist may not ride between lanes of moving or stationary vehicles, nor may they pass another vehicle within the lane it occupies. The ban covers low-speed filtering between stopped cars just as much as splitting through moving traffic.

Nevada does allow lane sharing, which is a different maneuver. Two motorcycles may ride side by side in one lane. According to the statute conditions, both involved riders must have an agreement regarding lane sharing.

Riders asked an interim legislative committee in May 2026 to sponsor a filtering bill, following Utah, Arizona, Montana, Colorado and Minnesota. No bill exists yet, and the Legislature cannot take one up before its 2027 session.

Most other states land in the middle of this argument. Either they say nothing clearly about the practice or they treat it like an unsafe lane change under more general traffic law.

Why the Distinction Matters After a Crash

When a motorcycle accident happens, the first question an insurer or a court asks is who violated a duty of care. In a state where lane splitting is allowed and it is done within the legal bounds, a rider who gets hit while lane splitting has not, just on that one point alone, done anything wrong.

Fault still follows the usual rules of negligence, such as whether another motorist changed lanes without checking a mirror or whether someone swung a door into traffic or whether a vehicle simply didn’t yield.

In a state where lane splitting is prohibited, the method of calculation changes. A rider who was splitting lanes at the time of a crash may be found to have violated a traffic law, which an insurance adjuster or opposing counsel can use to argue the rider bears some share of fault regardless of whether the other driver was also negligent.

Nevada applies modified comparative negligence. A rider recovers a reduced share unless their fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, which means a rider found exactly half responsible still collects half. California runs pure comparative negligence with no cutoff at all, so a rider there recovers a reduced amount at any percentage of fault. A small number of states still bar recovery entirely for any rider fault.

What This Means for Riders Filing a Claim

Riders sorting through this issue, particularly those splitting time or travel between California and Nevada, benefit from knowing which set of rules applied at the moment of the crash before they speak with an insurance company.

An early statement that concedes a state law violation can weaken a claim before an attorney has had a chance to evaluate the full picture.

Looking Ahead

The discrepancy between the leniency in California and the ban in Nevada does not seem to have a quick solution, despite the increasing campaign to legalize lane splitting in various states.

In the meantime, motorcyclists who cross state lines need to view lane splitting as something that is unique to particular places rather than being a general right.