I intend to order one abroad and wanted to ask if they are allowed in Germany or not! This article is incorrect. Lane separation is illegal in Germany. Little safety research in the United States has directly examined the issue of lane sharing. The European report on medical assistance in dying examined the causes of motorcycle accidents in four countries where it is legal, but in one country where it is not, it did not reach a conclusion as to whether they contributed to or prevented accidents. [4] Proponents of lane sharing claim that the author of the 1981 report, Harry, suggested that lane sharing improves motorcycle safety by reducing rear-end collisions. [19] However, in subsequent interviews, it was indicated that there was no factual evidence to support this allegation. [20] Not really supervision. In Germany, you have a minimum distance to exceed. It would therefore be illegal because the minimum overtaking distance is not respected. I currently live in Germany and feel extreme hatred when I filter through traffic at a red light on a motorcycle.
According to the attached article, it is legal to filter when traffic stops. Can anyone help me by citing the source? There are different opinions when you talk to locals. And this article is quite old. Thank you. What does the article say about escape routes? Does this also apply to urban traffic or only on the motorway? Filtering forward, in stopped or extremely slow traffic requires very slow speed and the awareness that in a door area, vehicle doors can open unexpectedly. Unexpected vehicle movements, such as lane changes, can also occur without warning. Buses and semi-trailers require extreme caution, as the cyclist is almost invisible to drivers who may not expect someone to filter. To avoid a collision with a vehicle turning at an intersection after being filtered forward to the intersection, cyclists learn to either take position directly in front of the stopped lead vehicle or to stay behind the lead vehicle. Cyclists should not stop directly on the passenger side of the lead vehicle, as this is a blind spot. [16] [17] [18] It has been suggested that very different and adaptable types of road use are capable of moving a very large number of people in a given space, compared to cars and trucks remaining within the boundaries of marked lanes. [14] [13] On roads where modes of transport are mixed, this can lead to a reduction in efficiency for all modes of transport. [15] But motorcycles should behave like a normal car, i.e.
occupy an entire lane. And then you don`t invent a third lane between two existing lanes just because you want to be one step ahead at the traffic lights. The California DMV Manual for Motorcycles advises caution when dividing the lane: “Vehicles and motorcycles each need a full lane to operate safely, and riding between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane can leave you vulnerable. A vehicle could suddenly turn or change lanes, a door could open, or a hand could come out of the window. [43] The Oxford Systematics report, commissioned by VicRoads, the traffic regulator in Victoria, Australia, noted that for motorcycles filtering through stationary traffic, “no example has yet been found where such filtering was the cause of an incident.” [44] In Australia, an uproar erupted when transport authorities decided to consolidate and clarify the various laws that made lane sharing totally illegal. Because of the opacity of the laws they were trying to clarify, many Australians actually believed that lane separation was legal, and they had practiced it for as long as they were driving. They interpreted the action as an attempt to change the law to make it illegal to split the lanes. Due to the volume of opposing public comments, the authorities decided to take no further action and the situation remained unchanged until 1 July 2014[48][49][50][51], when New South Wales legalised lane filtering and lane separation under strict conditions. [52] On 1 February 2015, similar relaxations were introduced in Queensland. [53] Utah legalized lane filtering in 2019[72] and went into effect on May 14, 2019.
[73] Unlike Austria, German law does not appear to specifically define this situation. Thus, overtaking is theoretically possible if you do not break other traffic rules, which is quite difficult since you are likely to cross certain lines, etc. So, from a legal point of view, you should wait in your position. From a practical point of view, I doubt very much that anything will happen if you tread carefully and wait at the red light. It seems to me that this is an oversight in the German STVO. When the 2005 bill to legalize lane separation in Washington State was defeated, a spokesperson for the Washington State Patrol testified, saying that “it would be difficult to establish and enforce standards for appropriate speeds and conditions for lane sharing.” He also said California Highway Patrol agents told him they wish they had never started allowing the practice. Off-track splitting. The report concludes with a list of 55 specific findings, such as: “Fuel system leaks and spills are present in 62% of motorcycle accidents in the post-accident phase. This poses an unacceptable fire hazard. None of these results mention lane changes or rear-end collisions. The recommendations of the law and law enforcement that follow this list do not mention lane splitting and do not suggest changes to lane splitting laws.
Thanks, it seems like high-speed splitting is definitely illegal, filtering when traffic stops is still a grey area. A question for motorcycle experts, who know the law well. For those who don`t know what filtering is, it`s when motorcyclists meander through traffic jams or usually in front of a row of stationary cars. I learned at driving school that this is basically allowed in Austria, but on the Internet it says everywhere that it is illegal. How is it really in Austria (around Vienna)? Lane separation is the operation of a bicycle or motorcycle between lanes or rows of slow or stopped traffic moving in the same direction. [1] [2] It is sometimes called white line riding or white band riding. [3] [4] This saves drivers time by avoiding traffic jams and may also be safer than stopping behind vehicles. [2] [3] [5] [6] Bikes are allowed to ride forward (slowly and carefully!) so that it is less dangerous for them, as they are not cut off by trucks and larger cars when they turn right, but stand in front of cars and are noticed.