While driving in a heavy traffic area, you might ask yourself, is lane splitting legal in Alberta? Although it’s legal in many parts of the world, it’s illegal in Canada.
Well, lane splitting saves time and reduces the density of the traffic. Still, this law brings more danger than benefits, which is why the authority doesn’t want to change it.
Let’s dive into the details about all the ins and outs of this law in Alberta.
What is Lane Splitting?
Lane splitting is the practice of driving motorcycles between lanes of slow-moving cars. There are other terms to describe this act, like lane filtering, lane sharing, stripe riding, white lining, etc. It helps bikers to avoid traffic congestion and save time. And sometimes, it is also even a safer option.
But while doing this driving act, there are some guidelines that a biker should follow. They are –
- Splitting lane when the vehicles on the road are moving at 30 MPH speed or less.
- Keeping the bike speed 10 MPH or less to be able to react to sudden situations.
- Splitting between the first and second lanes is safer than splitting near the ramps and exit routes.
- Always check the surroundings before splitting lanes and act accordingly.
Reasons Behind Practicing Lane Splitting
Basically, lane splitting or lane filtering is a common practice in developed countries where traffics are very high. It’s a practical solution for them to solve traffic issues faster and save their valuable time.
However, the outcome of this method is not always something positive. Sometimes, it makes it very difficult to drive as motorbike drivers use the law and tend to split lanes every now and then.
Is Lane Splitting Legal in Alberta, Canada?
Well, lane splitting is illegal in every province in Canada. So, the same things go for Alberta too.
However, the law is not quite clear. Actually, driving laws are written for cars, not for motorcycles. This creates confusion about bike riders as there are no specific rules for them.
Riders caught doing this are often charged with careless driving or racing. And this is pretty unjust, right? As lane splitting doesn’t always mean the driver is racing or being careless!
Why Lane Splitting Should Be Legal
There are some benefits of lane splitting, for which lane filtering or splitting should be legalized in Alberta as well as Canada. The reasons are like below.
Safe for Biker
Fortunately, lane filtering reduces the risks of rear-end collision. So, the first benefit the biker will get from this law is to enjoy a safe driving experience.
Motorcycle Saves Time
When you have chances to go forward, staying behind a big car is nothing but a waste of time. So, splitting lanes let a bike move which eventually reduces traffic congestion.
And you know, it not only saves the time of the bikers but the overall time to solve the traffic issue is also decreased.
Car Drivers Can Become More Careful
Usually, motorcyclists are often ignored by car drivers. You can’t deny that this is one of the big reasons for traffic accidents.
Anyways, bikers can draw the full attention of drivers by filtering through cars. Because of this, drivers will be more attentive, and that will also help to reduce accidents.
Why Doesn’t Canada Change the Law?
Regarding these positives sites, Canada is still not interested in changing its law. Do you know why? Well, because of some issues, it’s pretty challenging to change this law.
Let’s learn about them in detail.
Bikers are exposed to Other Dangers
The space between the rows of cars is very small. Hence, when a motorcycle is moving within them, anything can happen as car doors can suddenly open, someone put their hands out of the windows, a vehicle suddenly changes the lane and many more. These things are very hard for a biker to avoid.
It’s Hard to Enforce the law
Lane splitting should be executed in stopped or slow traffic, and the speed of the bike should not exceed the speed of the cars more than a few km/h for safety purposes. Moreover, there should be a safe gap between cars on the road.
And implement these rules are hard to enforce as people tend to break the rules when there is no proper monitoring. It needs a major push to change the overall structure.
However, there are 2% of road users use the motorcycle in Canada. This is why Canada is less motivated to make such drastic changes.
Regional Changes is Not Practical Too
Okay, country-wise change is pretty challenging, but how about a change in an individual provenance? Well, that’s also not a good idea as drivers from other areas can be startled by lane-splitting bikes due to their lack of practice.
On the other hand, bikers also face the same situation while riding in another provenance. So, basically, if the changes are not happening in the whole country, there will be no positive outcome if the authority changes the law for a few areas.
Final Words
Next time someone asks you, is lane splitting legal in Alberta? You know what exactly you have to say. Though it seems like splitting lanes is beneficial for solving traffic issues & saves time, it’s not always a good solution.
Especially in Canada, the infrastructure is not suitable for legalizing this driving practice. So, let the authority come up with a more effective solution.
Drive safely and stay safe!
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are a few answers to the questions that you need to know.
Is it legal to lane split in Canada?
Lane splitting in Canada is not a legal practice in Canada. However, there is a little bit of confusion about the law. This happens because the driving laws are generally written for cars. So, whether lane splitting is legal for motorcycles or not is not clear.
Can motorcycles drive between cars in Alberta?
Motorcycles can not drive between cars in Alberta. Lane splitting is quite restricted here so that the bike can’t move between vehicles for going forward. However, the authority should re-think it as it saves their time during heavy traffic, which is why many places make lane splitting legal.
Can motorcycles lane split in Alberta?
Motorcycles can’t split lanes in Alberta. However, the law is not clear for this action. It’s kind of not allowed nor prohibited act. However, the authority should re-think it and make it legal as it saves a lot of time during heavy traffic.
What is lane splitting?
Lane splitting is the practice of driving a bicycle or motorcycle between lanes or rows of stopped or slow-moving vehicles. This allows bike riders to bypass heavy traffic and save time.
Where is lane splitting legal?
Currently, California is the only place that makes lane splitting legal. They recognize this as a way of decreasing traffic congestion. And luckily, a few other states of the U.S also have started to consider lane splitting as a good option to solve their traffic problems. So, soon we can get some more places where lane splitting is a legal act.