(KNSI) — Starting Tuesday, July 1st, motorcyclists will be able to weave through traffic thanks to a new Minnesota law that allows lane splitting and lane filtering.
Captain Jon Lentz with the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office explained to KNSI News the variations in the two terms. “The biggest difference for folks to understand is lane splitting is everybody’s moving, it’s slow traffic, the motorcycle is just going to be able to move a little bit faster. Lane filtering is motor the traffic is stopped, motorcyclists are going to be able to move to the front.”
The new law allows riders on roads with two or more lanes moving in the same direction to drive in between traffic if vehicles are stopped or moving slowly. They can’t go more than 25 miles an hour or more than 15 miles an hour over what the other traffic around them is traveling.
Lane splitting and filtering cannot be performed at the approach, drive-through or exit of a roundabout, in a school or work zone where only a single travel lane is available for use, or on an on-ramp to a freeway or expressway. They can’t go on the shoulder, and they can’t go on the far left.
Lentz believes motorcyclists will be well aware of the law, and they’re trying to spread the word to everyone else. “Certainly folks driving automobiles need to be aware of this and need to be looking for it.”
The law was passed during the 2024 Legislature.
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