Is it legal to drive in between lanes of cars where you live?

[JonDouglas]

Been riding motorcycles for over 60 years with no accidents in all kinds of environments, including traffic-laden big cities. In most places, lane splitting is not the best idea given the level of driver experience and maturity. One experience stands out. I was commuting into Boston during it's worst traffic periods (i.e., the "Big Dig"). Some woman started pulling left into another lane, giving me just enough room to go around on the right. Doing just that made her angry (road rage?) to the point she pulled back into the lane, started following and tried to run me over. She missed (because I split lanes to get away) and karma followed her into the car in front.

One of the nice things about motorcycles is how little space they occupy, thus giving you way more escape options than in a car if you are aware. Situational awareness is critical, especially if you're riding a bike or piloting a plane.

 

[chic]

I don't know about motorcycles but bicyclists sure do. It's so tough because they don't always signal.

 

[911]

In Pennsylvania, the answer is NO. I have arrested a few motorcyclists for doing this. We call this "lane splitting." Two cyclists riding side by side is legal, but not a car and a cycle. If traffic is stopped and the cyclist is at the back of the line of traffic and tries to go between them to get to the front, he can be arrested and cited.

Depending on the circumstances and how respectful or disrespectful the cyclist is will normally determine the outcome of the citation or maybe not a citation. I know of one Trooper who was so disrespected by a cyclist, he gave 3 citations for the same charge. I think the judge cut it down to 2 because of the redundancy.