Minnesota Lane Filtering - Coming 7/1/2025!

[oldcamper]

Standard US highway lanes are 12 ft wide, but some trucks are nearly 9 feet wide with mirrors. That only leaves 36 inches between trucks, assuming they are exactly in the center of their lane.

How Wide And Long Are Pickup Trucks? (Top 10 Truck Dimensions)

Pickup trucks range from 17' 5.1'-21' 0.2" long, 6' 1" - 6' 10.1" wide and 6' 0.4" - 6' 9.8" high.

tailoredtrucks.com

Question for those that live in states that allow filtering or splitting or whatever it’s called: How often are vehicles damaged by wide motorcycle handlebars?

 

[pauls1150]

I've done quite a bit of riding in the northeast US, and have indeed encountered open hostility from the 4-wheelers. Yes it was illegal, but what the hey...
Here in CA, I've tried a few times to fall in behind a motor officer who was white-lining, and they never seemed to mind my presence... but No Way could I keep up with them if they were in a hurry!
Most truck drivers here are fairly skilled, and they Will move over a bit to let a bike pass. I have seen a few cases where an out-of-state car would purposely block a bike, which is also illegal even if the bike "shouldn't" be there.
About 50 years ago, I lightly clipped a pickup truck's wide rear bumper with the highway pegs on my Sportster... kept on goin'...
I wouldn't worry about "handlebars" (in my bike's case, at least) - it's the clearance for the mirrors (mine AND the cars') that I need to be careful about.
But I DO keep the high-beam modulator on when splitting. Sometimes ya gotta wake these fools up.

 

[mtraphagen]

Thanks for all the comment so far! We (the BMW club of MN) have noticed that there isn't a lot of formal education being released, so we took it upon ourselves to hopefully educate some of the public before the MNDOT ad campaign begins.

We are also trying to push more on the "filtering" part vs the high-speed lane "splitting" that many people think of when a motorcyclist is traveling between two lanes (as the law is written to include low speeds).

Will this be a huge benefit to people riding outside of the major cites in MN? No... we are fortunate enough to have a lot of roads where traffic congestion is minimal. Funny enough there's not one stretch of road in the town of 8000 people where I grew up that this would even be allowed. I personally know there's huge swaths of MN that this wouldn't be allowed, even if traffic is bumper to bumper. However, I can see using this at peak times here in Rochester (city of 100k+ people) on several streets by filtering to the front. Will I be using this all the time on my commute? No, but it's nice to have the option.

Last summer, I was on Hwy 14 westbound outside of Rochester to visit my sister in Mankato and traffic was extremely backed up. A guy in an old pickup ahead of me actually waved me ahead of him. Nice guy, as most Minnesotans tend to be. Having grown up there, there is a weird streak of competitiveness that could make things tough initially, but overall, I think people will be decent about it. On that note, people here in NJ are also generally nice. But I'm guessing a larger percentage may want to see you dead before allowing lane filtering. Cars bring out a definite sense of aggression. Despite that, I do see lane splitting happening more and more -- usually young guys on sport bikes. I've never seen anyone pulled over for it -- you really gotta work at things to get pulled over in NJ.

 

[r0ckrat]

I believe California's law reads similar, or at least is enforced that way. If you "lane split" going 60 MPH on the freeway in your crotch rocket while traffic is slow and go (10 mph +/-) in front of a LEO, he's gonna ring you up. There are general safety laws that overarch everything else, e.g. "traveling no faster than conditions allow", or something to that effect. It's a pretty reasonable precondition, though I'd prefer the moving traffic limitation at about 20 MPH, because when I ~~ AM ~~ lane splitting through traffic, I want to give the indecisive and/or angry cager's as little time to intervene as possible, while my reflexes and the brake's binders still have time/room to stop "just in case". That's about 20 MPH, for me.

California does not have anything codified regarding speeds. The California State Patrol released some recommendations, but those were never codified into law. It was left up to the officers' discretion as to what was "safe" at the time. I've moved over while splitting at 60+ for CHP moto's who then waved me in behind them... It all depends on traffic flow, volume, and the vehicles.

With regard to lane width, we generally don't split between two semis or other commercial trucks as that's pretty risky unless they both give room and let you know (which many do.) Additionally, if splitting the far left two lanes on a divided highway, there is a little extra room and traffic can (and usually does these days) move over to the far left of the left lane, and often the next lane in crowds the right side a little, making LOTS of room for a moto.

 

[riderr1150gsadv]

I can say for sure that lane splitting will never work in S.Florida as we have too many morons down here..

 

[r0ckrat]

As an added point as to WHY motorcyclists should be allowed to split, and how the MN law came about...

The gentleman that came to Redmond to present is a lobbyist or similar. He and his wife were rear-ended somewhere in MN (and not in a crowded metropolitan area). The result of that were life-threatening injuries to his wife, as the impact trapped her lags between passenger pegs and panniers (initial impact pushed her feet off the pegs, then the bags were pushed forward crushing her legs). Those injuries included multiple compound fractures.

The risks of filtering are well documented, as are the number of incidents of riders being rear ended in heavy traffic. What people don't know is that the severity of injuries sustained is different between the two types of incidents. On average, severity of injuries in a filtering incident are very low until speeds increase beyond 45 mph (as long as gear is worn) and usually still aren't extremely severe unless the rider is hit by a vehicle after falling - if they even fall at all. On average, the severity of injuries in a rear-end collision where the bike is slow or stopped tend to be very high. Lots of broken bones, long recoveries, etc.

 

[r0ckrat]

Question for those that live in states that allow filtering or splitting or whatever it’s called: How often are vehicles damaged by wide motorcycle handlebars?

How often have you brushed your handlebars against something while riding at 25mph?

The answer is "almost never".

 

[Scott9999]

I can't for the life of me remember the specifics of the event, but I did get clipped or I clipped another vehicle with my old R1100RT-P (maybe 20 years ago! eek!!). The right mirror popped off, and I had to quickly dismount and grab that thing before it was crushed under traffic. (Next thing I did was proceed to the hardware store to pickup wire and grommets to wire my mirrors to a mount point in the bike so that the mirror thingy never happened again.) So, yeah, it can happen.

 

[r0ckrat]

"So yeah, it can happen." But does so very rarely, and the damage is extremely minimal. Like you said, it was *your* mirror that popped off. Scraping an actual handle bar at speed would tend to result in terrible things happening to the rider from the sudden steering input.

 

[kbasa]

Standard US highway lanes are 12 ft wide, but some trucks are nearly 9 feet wide with mirrors. That only leaves 36 inches between trucks, assuming they are exactly in the center of their lane.

How Wide And Long Are Pickup Trucks? (Top 10 Truck Dimensions)

Pickup trucks range from 17' 5.1'-21' 0.2" long, 6' 1" - 6' 10.1" wide and 6' 0.4" - 6' 9.8" high.

tailoredtrucks.com

Question for those that live in states that allow filtering or splitting or whatever it’s called: How often are vehicles damaged by wide motorcycle handlebars?

Hitting someone with your bars is a bad idea. Number one, you'll probably fall down between the cars and get run over and number two, you've damaged someone else's property. Sometimes, you have to slide back in line and wait until the path forward opens up again.

Additionally, you don't want to be splitting lanes over in the right hand lanes, you want to split between the leftmost and adjacent lanes. When you encounter some vehicles, the breakdown lane gives them a bit of room to move over. Plenty of folks will. Here in California, it's not unusual for people to either have been riders or have riders in their family, unlike most of the rest of the country where us riders are looked at as borderline nut cases.

Bad lane splitting can get you dead. Good lane splitting can keep you alive.

Thanks for all the comment so far! We (the BMW club of MN) have noticed that there isn't a lot of formal education being released, so we took it upon ourselves to hopefully educate some of the public before the MNDOT ad campaign begins.

We are also trying to push more on the "filtering" part vs the high-speed lane "splitting" that many people think of when a motorcyclist is traveling between two lanes (as the law is written to include low speeds).

Will this be a huge benefit to people riding outside of the major cites in MN? No... we are fortunate enough to have a lot of roads where traffic congestion is minimal. Funny enough there's not one stretch of road in the town of 8000 people where I grew up that this would even be allowed. I personally know there's huge swaths of MN that this wouldn't be allowed, even if traffic is bumper to bumper. However, I can see using this at peak times here in Rochester (city of 100k+ people) on several streets by filtering to the front. Will I be using this all the time on my commute? No, but it's nice to have the option.

I never sit at the back of a queue of cars at a traffic light if there's an ability to get up front through the cars. Number one, I won't worry about being hit from behind - the most common form of traffic collision. Number two, when the light turns, I'm out front all alone in my nice safe bubble of no other cars being around. When I get to the next light, I'm going to repeat that process and keep riding along in my own little empty chunk of roadway.

I split at every traffic light that I can after being hit from behind twice here in SF and narrowly missing being hit from behind commuting home from Boston. If riders want to sit there hoping that the moron behind them that's texting is going to notice them, well that's your perogative. I'm going to be up front where that's not able to happen.

If you start viewing lane splitting as yet another vector to increase your safety, it becomes far more attractive and useful.

I think a lot of people have some vision of lane splitting as blowing between cars going 70 at 90 and that's just not accurate. More like, the cars are crawling along at 15mph in stop and go, so I'm sliding up between them at 30mph, being most careful where cars can change lanes. Or I'm sliding up between the cars at a stop light so I don't get hit from behind.

FWIW, the most dangerous place to split is when there's an opportunity for a car to change lanes. If the traffic is all lined up, with no empty spots, nobody is going to change lanes and hit you while you split.

I rode in urban traffic in Boston, commuting, for 20 years. I've lived outside of San Francisco for 25 and worked in SF. Lane splitting is a huge help. As an example, standard California custom for bikes is to slide up to the front at spots where you follow the pilot car through a construction zone or wait for a light control at one of those single lane spots.

I'm not sure how the law is written in MN, but lane sharing doesn't mean you can ride up the breakdown lane to the front of the pack. You can only lane split here between two lanes heading in the same direction. You can't split your way up the double yellow, only over white lines.

Jeez. I should write something for ON. There's a lot of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt being cast by folks that have never lane split.

 

[oldcamper]

Hitting someone with your bars is a bad idea. Number one, you'll probably fall down between the cars and get run over and number two, you've damaged someone else's property. Sometimes, you have to slide back in line and wait until the path forward opens up again.

Woods riders tag trees all the time. That’s what BarkBusters are for. Maybe they will find application in city traffic, too. Filtering will also allow riders with straight pipes to get up and personable with cagers, especially those who might be enjoying the weather with a window down in slow traffic. Don’t forget loud pipes also save lives. I’m sure all bikers will be considerate and courteous, though.

Maybe I’m just getting old. I love riding but have no plans of filtering and just hope some doofus on a bike doesn’t hit my car or startle the bejesus out of me if I am stuck in traffic …

We’ll see how it goes. Maybe it will be fine!

 

[kbasa]

Woods riders tag trees all the time. That’s what BarkBusters are for. Maybe they will find application in city traffic, too. Filtering will also allow riders with straight pipes to get up and personable with cagers, especially those who might be enjoying the weather with a window down in slow traffic. Don’t forget loud pipes also save lives. I’m sure all bikers will be considerate and courteous, though.

Maybe I’m just getting old. I love riding but have no plans of filtering and just hope some doofus on a bike doesn’t hit my car or startle the bejesus out of me if I am stuck in traffic …

We’ll see how it goes. Maybe it will be fine!

Then don't filter, I guess.

After 25 years of filtering/splitting on the regular and being plugged into the broader riding community, hitting cars with your bars isn't a thing unless you're a terrible rider. We're not negotiating trees and bony roots that'll force you off line and into a tree, we're riding on pavement.

More likely is some doofus in a car smashing into you on your bike from behind while you're stopped than someone hitting your car with their bike. How do you feel when you're sitting there with your feet on the ground while traffic's stopped and you're watching your mirrors? I'll take sliding up between the cars as far safer than sitting there hoping someone sees my blinky brake light and my hi viz. I can take proactive steps to reduce my exposure, rather than relying on some variation of "I hope they see me".

You know where I'll be and it won't be sitting there with a big target on my back hoping they're paying enough attention to see me. If anything, I feel less safe when riding and I don't have this ability to stay out of the way of oblivious car pilots.

Us riders and cyclists here on the west coast like to say, "You're not stuck in traffic in your car. You ARE traffic."

 

[pauls1150]

I thought "our" most common collision was the left turn in front of us (failure to yield)??
When I was rear-ended back east (on one of my 650 twins), I wasn't filtering... just slowing down for the red light ahead.
The possibility of a car changing lanes is a primary concern; they're not only droning on their phones, but they refuse to look back over their shoulder first. And a turn signal? Perish the thought.
I have also moved up between the lanes because I looked in the mirror and decided I didn't trust that car coming up too fast... and then heard the crunch...

 

[kbasa]

I thought "our" most common collision was the left turn in front of us (failure to yield)??
When I was rear-ended back east (on one of my 650 twins), I wasn't filtering... just slowing down for the red light ahead.
The possibility of a car changing lanes is a primary concern; they're not only droning on their phones, but they refuse to look back over their shoulder first. And a turn signal? Perish the thought.
I have also moved up between the lanes because I looked in the mirror and decided I didn't trust that car coming up too fast... and then heard the crunch...

I'm talking about being in stop and go traffic, not generally.

I was in traffic going to Carmel a couple years ago after work. (Car week, if anyone cares). Anyway, I was rolling along in one of the lanes and traffic started to come to a stop, so I slid over onto the line to roll up between the cars. The car that had been following me, hit a stopped car while they were slightly behind me.

In stop and go, I ALWAYS lane split because of that exact scenario.

 

[rbourey]

Right - not for everyone. All I know, is I would never hit the LA area without the ability to keep moving, while the cars have stopped.

Great interview with Phil about how he approached the legislature (and vice verse) to get this done.

 

[r0ckrat]

I thought "our" most common collision was the left turn in front of us (failure to yield)??
When I was rear-ended back east (on one of my 650 twins), I wasn't filtering... just slowing down for the red light ahead.
The possibility of a car changing lanes is a primary concern; they're not only droning on their phones, but they refuse to look back over their shoulder first. And a turn signal? Perish the thought.
I have also moved up between the lanes because I looked in the mirror and decided I didn't trust that car coming up too fast... and then heard the crunch...

Yes - left turners are a primary concern, and one that we don't have a lot of defense other than pre-planning for. Being rear-ended we don't have many options to pre-plan an escape/detour from, so being able to filter is the best option.

Yes, cars changing lanes is a concern - but when moving slowly, it takes a beat for the car to change direction. It's enough time to see it start to happen and adjust for if you are filtering to fast (as long as you are "in the zone" - i.e. paying full attention to what's going on ahead of you.) At less than 30mph you can slow quickly enough to not be caught out by a lane changer in almost any scenario. And if in the zone, you can recognize early that there is an opening and that the car next to the opening might decide to fill it, and prepare by allowing time for them to do so before passing them.

 

[kbasa]

Yes - left turners are a primary concern, and one that we don't have a lot of defense other than pre-planning for. Being rear-ended we don't have many options to pre-plan an escape/detour from, so being able to filter is the best option.

Yes, cars changing lanes is a concern - but when moving slowly, it takes a beat for the car to change direction. It's enough time to see it start to happen and adjust for if you are filtering to fast (as long as you are "in the zone" - i.e. paying full attention to what's going on ahead of you.) At less than 30mph you can slow quickly enough to not be caught out by a lane changer in almost any scenario. And if in the zone, you can recognize early that there is an opening and that the car next to the opening might decide to fill it, and prepare by allowing time for them to do so before passing them.

Exactly. It took me a while to realize that I was safest and least likely to get hit by a car when I was between two cars. If there's an opening in an adjacent lane, that's where you have to proceed with all due caution.

It's not hard. You start to see the behaviors of the drivers: the hand on the turn signal, the leaning forward to look in the side view or the look over the shoulder.

I'm not one of those guys with a stadium full of lights on my bike, but I always run my high beams when lane splitting. When doing so, you'll see cars well up the road from you making room here in NorCal.

 

[Scott9999]

Exactly. It took me a while to realize that I was safest and least likely to get hit by a car when I was between two cars. If there's an opening in an adjacent lane, that's where you have to proceed with all due caution.

It's not hard. You start to see the behaviors of the drivers: the hand on the turn signal, the leaning forward to look in the side view or the look over the shoulder.

I'm not one of those guys with a stadium full of lights on my bike, but I always run my high beams when lane splitting. When doing so, you'll see cars well up the road from you making room here in NorCal.

Agree about watching drivers. I literally watched the driver's eyes and hands as I closed a vehicle to pass, as well as the behavior of the vehicle to determine their intent. There were seldom surprises, but then again, drivers can become aggressive. (Of course, now days, and in particular outside of California, cars have such dark tinted, almost blacked out windows, you can't see anything inside the passenger compartment.)

I've always been looking at my rear before and after I come to a stop in traffic, be it a light, stop sign, or just traffic congestion. It's an immediate "flip eyes back to the rear mirror" habit. It saved our family almost 40 years ago.

We were South on California I15 where the freeway ended (back then), and turned into a surface street. As speeds slowed, the road descended under a railway bridge, and popped up about 200-300 feet from a stop light. We came to a stop maybe four cars back, in a four lane, divided highway (i.e. two lanes each way), we were in the center lane, and the right lane was empty (i.e. only two cars at the light in that lane). As I glanced backwards, I saw an out of control pickup coming out of that underpass, with the driver clearly sloped against the driver side door with his eyes shut. It was exactly like one of those commercials back then about tough pick up trucks, that featured a pickup with three tires in the air, the fourth just touching the dirt, as it came over the top of some dirt road. Except this was on pavement, and the driver was unconscious. He had to be doing in excess of 70 MPH, and was literally mid-air, maybe 100' back behind us. My eight month pregnant wife and 1 year old boy were in the back seat. As soon as I saw him, I dropped the automatic transmission into low, flipped the wheel left into oncoming traffic (i.e. there was about half of a lined median there), and gunned my little Toyota Camry. Seconds passed like minutes. I don't think I saw him make contract, i.e. my eyes were still forward. He hit the right rear fender with such force that he punched about a 10" round hole in the upper fender, i.e. no other crumpling or damage. I was almost out of the lane, maybe his truck stated to veer right a little, and he pushed us into oncoming traffic a couple of car lengths. After he glanced off my car, he careened into the two cars in the right lane, totaling both and injuring the occupants. If he'd hit us solid, my wife and kids would certainly be dead, and I might not be here either to tell the story. (A couple of us there ran his drunk ass down as he was trying to walk away.) Anyhow, split seconds are life and death, and praise the Lord, timing worked perfectly to keep us alive. I've never stopped looking back, and the couple of times when getting back into riding that I've forgotten that, I almost get off the bike and kick myself physically for forgetting. ALWAYS check your six.

Beyond that, when on a bike, I always position myself as I come to a stop so that I don't end up in a puddle of unknown wet stuff (oil? A/C condensate? gas?), and that I am positioned to always have an "out". That means, don't be locked tight against the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead of you, and be centered on the right or left side of your lane, with the front wheel pointed where you'd want to go, when a truck comes up behind you, flying in mid-air and out of control.

 

[pauls1150]

I'm playing with the addition of an alternative to the expensive "Billie Light" for my RT.
At O'Reilly Auto Parts, marker light p/n MC42RS (Optronics, $4.99), and yank out the two little #194 bulbs that come with it and replace them with Sylvania Zevo LEDs p/n 921LEDBP2 ($25.99 for two)... they just barely fit in there. Since I won't trust the "ground" they use (the screw mounting it to the vehicle), I've soldered the extra required wire to their internal ground strip. Preliminary test with a 9 volt battery on the kitchen table has them as really bright! (If it appears pink at night, I can swap out the white LEDs for red ones.)

 

[kbasa]

Agree about watching drivers. I literally watched the driver's eyes and hands as I closed a vehicle to pass, as well as the behavior of the vehicle to determine their intent. There were seldom surprises, but then again, drivers can become aggressive. (Of course, now days, and in particular outside of California, cars have such dark tinted, almost blacked out windows, you can't see anything inside the passenger compartment.)

I've always been looking at my rear before and after I come to a stop in traffic, be it a light, stop sign, or just traffic congestion. It's an immediate "flip eyes back to the rear mirror" habit. It saved our family almost 40 years ago.

We were South on California I15 where the freeway ended (back then), and turned into a surface street. As speeds slowed, the road descended under a railway bridge, and popped up about 200-300 feet from a stop light. We came to a stop maybe four cars back, in a four lane, divided highway (i.e. two lanes each way), we were in the center lane, and the right lane was empty (i.e. only two cars at the light in that lane). As I glanced backwards, I saw an out of control pickup coming out of that underpass, with the driver clearly sloped against the driver side door with his eyes shut. It was exactly like one of those commercials back then about tough pick up trucks, that featured a pickup with three tires in the air, the fourth just touching the dirt, as it came over the top of some dirt road. Except this was on pavement, and the driver was unconscious. He had to be doing in excess of 70 MPH, and was literally mid-air, maybe 100' back behind us. My eight month pregnant wife and 1 year old boy were in the back seat. As soon as I saw him, I dropped the automatic transmission into low, flipped the wheel left into oncoming traffic (i.e. there was about half of a lined median there), and gunned my little Toyota Camry. Seconds passed like minutes. I don't think I saw him make contract, i.e. my eyes were still forward. He hit the right rear fender with such force that he punched about a 10" round hole in the upper fender, i.e. no other crumpling or damage. I was almost out of the lane, maybe his truck stated to veer right a little, and he pushed us into oncoming traffic a couple of car lengths. After he glanced off my car, he careened into the two cars in the right lane, totaling both and injuring the occupants. If he'd hit us solid, my wife and kids would certainly be dead, and I might not be here either to tell the story. (A couple of us there ran his drunk ass down as he was trying to walk away.) Anyhow, split seconds are life and death, and praise the Lord, timing worked perfectly to keep us alive. I've never stopped looking back, and the couple of times when getting back into riding that I've forgotten that, I almost get off the bike and kick myself physically for forgetting. ALWAYS check your six.

Beyond that, when on a bike, I always position myself as I come to a stop so that I don't end up in a puddle of unknown wet stuff (oil? A/C condensate? gas?), and that I am positioned to always have an "out". That means, don't be locked tight against the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead of you, and be centered on the right or left side of your lane, with the front wheel pointed where you'd want to go, when a truck comes up behind you, flying in mid-air and out of control.

+1. If I’m not up front, I’m far enough back to get around the car in front of me.

Man. What a story!