BILL NUMBER: AB 51	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 22, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  FEBRUARY 11, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Quirk and Lackey
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Chu)

                        DECEMBER 1, 2014

   An act to  amend Section 21658 of   add
Section 21658.1 to  the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 51, as amended, Quirk. Vehicles: motorcycles: lane splitting.
   (1) Existing law requires, whenever a roadway has been divided
into 2 or more clearly marked lanes for traffic in one direction,
that a vehicle be driven as nearly as practical entirely within a
single lane and not be moved from the lane until the movement can be
made with reasonable safety. A violation of the Vehicle Code is a
crime.
   This bill would authorize a motorcycle  that has 2 wheels in
contact with the ground  to be driven between rows of stopped or
moving vehicles in the same lane if the  speed of traffic is
30 miles per hour or less   motorcycle is not driven at
a speed of more than 50 miles per hour  and  the
motorcycle  is driven no more than  10 
 15  miles per hour faster than the speed of traffic. The
bill would provide that these provisions do not authorize a
motorcycle to be driven in contravention of other laws relating to
the safe operation of a vehicle. By creating a new crime, this bill
would impose a state-mandated local program.
   (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
   
  SECTION 1.    Section 21658 of the Vehicle Code is
amended to read:
   21658.  Whenever any roadway has been divided into two or more
clearly marked lanes for traffic in one direction, the following
rules apply:
   (a) A vehicle shall be driven as nearly as practical entirely
within a single lane and shall not be moved from the lane until such
movement can be made with reasonable safety.
   (b) Official signs may be erected directing slow-moving traffic to
use a designated lane or allocating specified lanes to traffic
moving in the same direction, and drivers of vehicles shall obey the
directions of the traffic device.
   (c) (1) A motorcycle, as defined in Section 400, may be driven
between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane,
including both divided and undivided streets, roads, or highways, if
both of the following conditions are present:
   (A) The speed of traffic moving in the same direction is 30 miles
per hour or less.
   (B) The motorcycle is not driven more than 10 miles per hour
faster than the speed of traffic moving in the same direction.
   (2) This subdivision does not authorize a motorcycle to be driven
in contravention of other laws relating to the safe operation of a
vehicle. 
   SECTION 1.    Section 21658.1 is added to the 
 Vehicle Code   , to read:  
   21658.1.  (a) A motorcycle, as defined in Section 400, that has
two wheels in contact with the ground may be driven between rows of
stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane, including both divided
and undivided streets, roads, or highways, if both of the following
conditions are present:
   (1) The motorcycle is not driven at a speed of more than 50 miles
per hour.
   (2) The motorcycle is not driven more than 15 miles per hour
faster than the speed of traffic moving in the same direction.
   (b) This section does not authorize a motorcycle to be driven in
contravention of other laws relating to the safe operation of a
vehicle. 
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.