Lane splitting | Page 4 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Lane splitting

People keep missing that point.

City council can amend whatever they want. They don't control the HTA. It'll still be illegal.
 
Actually mun
PrivatePilot said:
People keep missing that point.

City council can amend whatever they want. They don't control the HTA. It'll still be illegal.
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Municipalities can pass traffic bylaws, it would be in their wheelhouse to pass filtering and lane splitting within the city limits. Also remember that Toronto polices the city, that gives them a second level of influence. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_950.pdf
 
Bylaws can be used only within the boundaries of the HTA, IE, they can add specific municipal rules to things already specified in the HT or within the cities control to adjust. They also allow cities to adjust speed limits as they see fit and other minor things such as that.

Bylaws however cannot invalidate or make things that are specifically illegal in the HTA somehow legal.

In short, a city can’t just unilaterally decide that certain rules won’t apply to them because they feel like it.
 
In the City of Kingston there is a by-law that makes it illegal to leave your trailer hitch tongue & ball in place when you are not pulling a trailer, is a 200$ fine. City traffic By-laws are supplemental to HTA law just as Provincial law is supplemental to Federal law. They could however create a traffic lane or road specifically for bicycles, motorcycles, busses, or even horse drawn carriages if they really wanted to.
 
Just my perspective as both a motorcyclist, bicyclist and cager. Driving a vehicle in the city is getting to be very complicated for the following reasons.

- pedestrians entering the roadway without even looking up from their phones. they should be checking traffic and making eye contact but now they just go even when it is not their right of way. I spoke with a few people who do this and they just get angry that drivers are responsible.

- cyclists and e-bikes riding the wrong way. Almost impossible to check for them when they come the wrong way at speed.

- drivers distracted by phones or late to picking up their kids from day care doing unpredictable things. These people, and there a lots of them are way too self absorbed to be on the road.

- cyclists running lights And other unpredictable behaviour.

soon we will have Biird and Lyme scooter in the mix which will add more complexity.

driving in this scenario can be done. I do it daily as do millions of others. My point is that we need to be extra vigilant because the dysnmics of riding in the city have changed. So please be extra careful if you are lane splitting and keep in mind that many people on the road are at the limit of what they can handle if they are even paying attention.
 
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Trials said:
In the City of Kingston there is a by-law that makes it illegal to leave your trailer hitch tongue & ball in place when you are not pulling a trailer, is a 200$ fine. City traffic By-laws are supplemental to HTA law just as Provincial law is supplemental to Federal law. They could however create a traffic lane or road specifically for bicycles, motorcycles, busses, or even horse drawn carriages if they really wanted to.
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When did that come in? I see people here with them left in all the time, including city vehicles.
 
Lyndsay said:
When did that come in? I see people here with them left in all the time, including city vehicles.
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Several years ago now, I know some people who got dinged with it too.
 
Trials said:
Several years ago now, I know some people who got dinged with it too.
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I always try to remember to pull mine, but sometimes I forget. I'll need to pay more attention. Maybe I'll find out what the bylaw is and get some cards made up to stick on the windows of offenders.
 
Lyndsay said:
I always try to remember to pull mine, but sometimes I forget. I'll need to pay more attention. Maybe I'll find out what the bylaw is and get some cards made up to stick on the windows of offenders.
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I tried to alert some people to it, but they usually just look at you with a blank look and carry on.
 
When HTA describes lane markings they refer to the vehicles on the road as 'traffic'. They don't exclude motorcycles from the traffic designation :| we aren't that special yet. So ya, it's illegal and they can write you up for improper lane change if nothing else.
 
Trials said:
In the City of Kingston there is a by-law that makes it illegal to leave your trailer hitch tongue & ball in place when you are not pulling a trailer, is a 200$ fine. City traffic By-laws are supplemental to HTA law just as Provincial law is supplemental to Federal law. They could however create a traffic lane or road specifically for bicycles, motorcycles, busses, or even horse drawn carriages if they really wanted to.
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Wth. How bored was city council? Having a ball in has saved me damage at least twice. Once was a solid rear end where the ball went through their bumper and rad. Bent the pin and had a black mark on the bumper. Second time, a knob at Tim hortons drove into the back of me. Ball went through his bumper. I got out and looked and didnt have a mark so I told him to have a good day. He never got out to look. I dont think he was going to be very happy when he did.
 
raginduck said:
But... Is lane splitting or filtering actually illegal?
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Yes, it is.

The HTA specifically mentions that only 1 vehicle may occupy a lane at any point in time which is what LEO's have used before to stick charges for splitters. When you effectively share a lane with a car on either (or both) sides of you, you are technically impeding on their lane. I can dig up the HTA section if anyone wants to see it, but it's been discussed here before and the HTA section was mentioned.

This is the same law that makes it technically illegal for 2 motorcycles to ride side by side. Don't get me started on the fact that the OPP does it all the time during their performance rides, but that's another story.

People HAVE been charged under S172 for just filtering in Ontario, much less splitting, so that should speak volumes.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Yes, it is.

The HTA specifically mentions that only 1 vehicle may occupy a lane at any point in time which is what LEO's have used before to stick charges for splitters. When you effectively share a lane with a car on either (or both) sides of you, you are technically impeding on their lane. I can dig up the HTA section if anyone wants to see it, but it's been discussed here before and the HTA section was mentioned.

This is the same law that makes it technically illegal for 2 motorcycles to ride side by side. Don't get me started on the fact that the OPP does it all the time during their performance rides, but that's another story.

People HAVE been charged under S172 for just filtering in Ontario, much less splitting, so that should speak volumes.
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However, to his point the law does not specifically call out filtering or splitting. Cops are laying charges of improper lane usage and stunting.

I would call it a grey area currently, in so much as the ability for future legislation to not contravene the HTA. Otherwise I feel the city lawyer would have canned this idea before council allocated the money.
 
If the city made a narrow "lane" between the normal lanes, that should bypass the charges in the HTA. Maybe have a max speed limit in the motorcycle lanes of 15 km/h? That lets you filter to the front, but rejoin normal traffic when things get moving.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Yes, it is.

The HTA specifically mentions that only 1 vehicle may occupy a lane at any point in time which is what LEO's have used before to stick charges for splitters. When you effectively share a lane with a car on either (or both) sides of you, you are technically impeding on their lane. I can dig up the HTA section if anyone wants to see it, but it's been discussed here before and the HTA section was mentioned.

This is the same law that makes it technically illegal for 2 motorcycles to ride side by side. Don't get me started on the fact that the OPP does it all the time during their performance rides, but that's another story.

People HAVE been charged under S172 for just filtering in Ontario, much less splitting, so that should speak volumes.
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Can you please dig up the related section(s)... that "specifically mentions that only 1 vehicle may occupy a lane at any point"
 

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Lane splitting is widely regarded as illegal in Canada. But that doesn’t mean our laws are any clearer! The Ontario Ministry of Transportation states that filtering is “extremely dangerous,” but they make no reference to an actual law. It can be hard to convict lanesplitters on specific traffic infringements like the Highway Traffic Act’s section 154 or 148-50. Instead, riders who split lanes are often handed vague infringements for “careless driving” (130) or “racing” (172).
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Where highway divided into lanes
154 (1) Where a highway has been divided into clearly marked lanes for traffic,

(a) a vehicle shall not be driven from one lane to another lane or to the shoulder or from the shoulder to a lane unless the driver first ascertains that it can be done safely;

(b) in the case of a highway that is divided into three lanes, a vehicle shall not be driven in the centre lane except when overtaking and passing another vehicle where the roadway is clearly visible and the centre lane is clear of traffic within a reasonable safe distance, or in preparation for a left turn, or where the centre lane is at the time designated for the use of traffic moving in the direction in which the vehicle is proceeding and official signs are erected to indicate the designation;

(c) any lane may be designated for slowly moving traffic, traffic moving in a particular direction or classes or types of vehicles and, despite section 141, where a lane is so designated and official signs indicating the designation are erected, every driver shall obey the instructions on the official signs. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 154 (1); 2015, c. 14, s. 45.

Passing vehicle going in same direction
(8) No person in charge of a vehicle shall pass or attempt to pass another vehicle going in the same direction on a highway unless the roadway,

(a) in front of and to the left of the vehicle to be passed is safely free from approaching traffic; and

(b) to the left of the vehicle passing or attempting to pass is safely free from overtaking traffic. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 148 (8).

EDIT: The 'ad', is actually a link to the article.

/shrug
 
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PrivatePilot said:
Bylaws can be used only within the boundaries of the HTA, IE, they can add specific municipal rules to things already specified in the HT or within the cities control to adjust. They also allow cities to adjust speed limits as they see fit and other minor things such as that.

Bylaws however cannot invalidate or make things that are specifically illegal in the HTA somehow legal.

In short, a city can’t just unilaterally decide that certain rules won’t apply to them because they feel like it.
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More or less. First consult the Municipal Act By-Laws to understand what they can and cannot do, you will see municipalities cannot overrule provincial rules (i.e.. HTA) unless the provincial rules allow rulemaking by municipalities. Next you consult the HTA, specifically 195, which outlines limits on municipal bylaws. In the case of filtering and lane splitting, it's not specifically covered in the HTA so it would be something municipalities could bylaw under HTA 195 (1)a. Of course the province always has the upper hand, if they objected -- which I doubt they would - they can simply overrule.
 
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