If you’ve been riding a motorcycle for any length of time, you’ve likely had at least one experience of another driver breaking a traffic law and putting you in harm’s way as a result. While not every illegal act directly leads to a wreck, the ones that do can often serve as grounds for personal injury lawsuits—but so too can accidents caused by your own traffic violations as a motorcycle rider if they lead to someone else besides you getting hurt.
For the sake of keeping yourself safe on the road and protecting your right to file suit in the event someone else’s unsafe behavior causes you a serious injury, it’s important to understand how Pennsylvania law applies to you as a motorcycle rider. Here’s a basic overview of York motorcycle traffic laws that you should be aware of before getting out on the road. One of our motorcycle crash attorneys at Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers can go into more detail about filing a lawsuit.
Are Motorcycles Treated the Same as Cars?
For the most part, Pennsylvania law doesn’t make any legal distinction between motorcycles with two or three wheels and regular commuter cars with four wheels. If you’re riding a motorcycle in York, you’re subject to all the same basic traffic laws and signage as any other driver: stopping at red lights and stop signs, yielding to other vehicles when they have the right-of-way, staying below the posted speed limit, and so on.
By the same token, other drivers are expected to treat your motorcycle as if it’s a full-sized motor vehicle and give you the same amount of space within a traffic lane that they’d give to any other type of vehicle. Likewise, other cars can’t pass you on your motorcycle without first moving entirely into an adjacent traffic lane, just like you can’t pass other cars on your motorcycle without moving fully into another lane yourself.
Lane Splitting and Lane Sharing
In some states, motorcyclists are allowed to lane split, which entails riding on the lines separating traffic lanes in order to get past gridlock traffic on a highway or advance to the front of the line at a traffic light. Under Pennsylvania’s motorcycle traffic laws, this type of behavior is illegal in York just like it is everywhere else in the Commonwealth, as established in 75 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 3523.
One unique thing this statute does allow motorcyclists to do is lane sharing—in other words, riding two abreast with another motorcyclist within the same lane of traffic. Provided that both riders stay within that one traffic lane and don’t let a third rider ride level with them, this behavior is legal for motorcyclists.
A York Attorney Can Further Explain Motorcycle Traffic Laws
Unfortunately, even motorcycle riders who follow every applicable traffic rule and act responsibly while riding aren’t immune from being hurt in a wreck caused by someone else’s misconduct. Fortunately, if you can prove that you were obeying York motorcycle traffic laws while the other person involved in your accident wasn’t, you may be able to hold them financially accountable for any and all losses the collision has caused you to suffer.
Support from an experienced lawyer who is well-known for winning tough cases on behalf of regular people like you can be vital to achieving the best possible claim result. Call today to discuss your options and start working on your lawsuit or settlement proposal.
