Kevin Taguchi leads an eponymous personal injury law practice in Hayward, California. Experienced in handling a variety of vehicular crash cases, lawyer Kevin Taguchi has represented many clients who have been involved in motorcycle accidents.
Lane splitting has long been a controversial practice in California, particularly when a motorcycle vehicle crash makes the news. It involves a motorcyclist riding between lanes of traffic and traditionally has neither been prohibited nor expressly allowed under California law.
In the summer of 2016, however, the California legislature issued a bill that officially allows the state Highway Patrol to establish guidelines for safe lane splitting. The bill stands out as the first in the nation to formalize lane-splitting practices, and thus the first to communicate to motorists that the practice is allowed.
Early versions of the bill officially restricted lane splitting to speeds 50 mph or below and forbade lane-splitting motorcycles from traveling more than 15 mph faster than other traffic. In response to push-back from citizens, however, legislators altered the bill to remove these regulations. As enacted, Assembly Bill 51 formalizes the definition of a “lane” and gives the Highway Patrol the authority to develop speed and related guidelines.
