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The oft-used technique employed by motorcyclists to get to the front of stationary queues has been given the official green light in NSW
NSW has become the first state or territory in Australia to legalise the practice of motorcycle lane filtering – but only for fully licensed riders.
The decision by the ruling Liberal-National Coalition government follows on from a two-month trial in 2013, with the practice to become legal on July 1, 2014. The filtering green light is among a number of measures announced by the government to ease traffic congestion, especially in urban areas.
Under the scheme, fully licensed riders will be able to ride through stationary traffic at speeds up to 30km/h, but not in school zones, beside kerbs or next to trucks and buses.
Roads minister Duncan Gay said the decision was a common sense solution.
“Last year we held a successful trial in Sydney CBD of motorcyclists being exempt from existing lane filtering laws in an attempt to ease road congestion and measure potential safety issues for other road users,” he said.
“As a result of the trial we will introduce a new law that will permit fully licensed motorcyclists to legally filter past stationary vehicles at intersections when it is safe to do so.”
Motorcycle council of NSW spokesman Chris Burns welcomed the change.
“Lane filtering has been common practice for motorcycle riders across the country and overseas for decades,” he says.
“The benefits of lane filtering have been internationally recognised as a solution to traffic congestion in built up areas and will assist in relieving congestion issues on NSW’s major and minor routes thereby assisting drivers with their daily commutes.”
Mr Burns said it could also prevent riders from being injured.
“Some drivers don’t actually understand that by filtering, riders are getting out of the rear-end danger zone which is the most common crash in NSW,” he said.
“If you are in a car and you get rear ended you might get whiplash. If you’re on a bike you get squashed.”
Road safety advocate Maurice Blackburn Lawyers has also applauded the decision.
"NSW has led the way and others should see the sense in it and do the same," said John Voyage, principal and road safety advocate.
"It is a common sense approach. The government has successfully trialled this and listened to us and to the many thousands of motorcyclists who say lane filtering is safer for everyone and cuts traffic congestion."
Lane filtering is defined as motorcycles moving between lanes of slow or stationary traffic. A large European study* shows it's safer for riders and it is legal in many other places around the world.
Mr Voyage said it was encouraging that a number of state and territory governments were looking at lane filtering, but they now needed to take the next step and legalise it to reduce confusion among motorists and riders.
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