Is it Time for Uniform Motorcycle Lane Filtering Laws?

5 February 2015 By NSW Compensation Lawyers

Motorcycle lane filtering is now legal in New South Wales and Queensland, but that’s not the case around the rest of Australia. Is it time for uniform laws allowing lane filtering across the country?

Motorcycle Lane Filtering is Legal NSW…

Motorcycle lane filtering has been legal in NSW since 1 July 2014, allowing fully-licensed motorcycle riders to travel past stopped or slow-moving vehicles at a speed of 30 kilometre per hour or less when it is safe to do so.

But motorcyclists are not allowed to lane filter past the left of cars along kerbside lanes, in breakdown lanes, in school zones and next to parked cars. Learner and Provisional licensed drivers are not allowed to lane filter.

A new offence has been created called lane splitting for when motorcycle riders don’t follow the lane filtering laws leading to heavy fines and loss of demerit points.

And in Queensland Too

And in Queensland from the start of February, motorcyclists are now allowed to lane filter through traffic at speeds of 30 km/hr or less. They are also not allowed to do this through school zones or at higher speeds.

Other changes in Queensland include:

motorcyclists are now allowed to stretch their legs off their bikes to help reduce fatigue
they are allowed to take their feet off their footsteps to reverse into a parking space
they are allowed to turn their head to make shoulder checks
and motorcyclists are also allowed to wear helmets meeting international standards.

The ACT is trialling Motorcycle Lane Filtering…

The ACT has gone down the path of trialling lane filtering over the next two years.

Motorcyclists will be allowed to move past slow moving or stopped cars at speeds under 30 km/hr.

Some restrictions include no lane filtering in school zones, bike lanes, or past large vehicles.