Lane Filtering Motorcycles and What it Means for Montana
Later this fall, don t throw yourself into a road rage when a motorcycle creeps past the side of your vehicle at a stoplight. Last week, Governor Greg Gianforte signed bill SB9 that will allow lane filtering for two-wheeled vehicles on Montana roads. Montana now becomes one of just three states that allow the technique, which is also legal in California and Utah. The new lane filtering law in Montana becomes effective October 1, 2021.
So what is lane filtering?
Essentially, lane filtering allows motorcycles to move forward between lanes of stopped vehicles, like when at a stoplight. Not to be confused with lane splitting or sharing, a somewhat similar law that allows motorcycles to share a lane with moving traffic.