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Quality of Life

California Lawmakers Approve Motorcyclists' Lane Splitting

California lawmakers are moving to condone the practice of lane-splitting, in which motorcyclists drive between two lanes of vehicles.

With the state Assembly's approval Thursday, it moves to Gov. Jerry Brown for consideration.

The longstanding practice is in a legal grey area in California, though law enforcement has permitted the practice. The California Highway Patrol published lane-splitting guidelines in 2013, but regulators later ruled the CHP had no authority to make public policy.

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AB51 by Assemblymen Bill Quirk, a Hayward Democrat, and Tom Lackey, a Palmdale Republican, would direct CHP to again set specific guidelines for the practice.

They removed from the bill a 50-mile-per-hour speed limit while weaving between lanes, despite objections from the American Motorcyclist Association.

It would legalize the practice only for people driving motorcycles.

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