MOTORCYCLISTS travelling through western NSW will be allowed to ride up alongside stopped or slow-moving vehicles under a new law that comes into effect in NSW next week.
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But the new lane filtering law, which comes into effect statewide on July 1, probably would not have a huge impact on travel times or traffic congestion in Dubbo and other centres outside Sydney, according to Western Region Traffic and Highway Patrol Inspector Jeff Boon.
He said the new legislation was a step forward in raising awareness of what was previously an illegal but nevertheless established practice among many motorcyclists.
"It has been happening for a long time, however having specific legislation raises awareness for motorcyclists, pedestrians and car drivers," Inspector Boon said.
"Often car drivers don't see motorcyclists or anticipate that they're there. Motorcyclists are overrepresented in road fatalities, and even though it sounds like a cliche, it's because they are so vulnerable we use the term 'check twice for bikes'."
Transport for NSW led a motorcycle lane filtering trial in Sydney last year to try to identify the risks and benefits of lane filtering when it came to road safety and traffic flow for all users.
It came in response to a long-running campaign from sections of the motorcycle community arguing it was safe and had the potential to help ease traffic congestion, especially with the number of motorcyclists on roads increasing every year.
Under the new legislation, motorcyclists were only allowed to lane filter when it was safe to do so, including when they were travelling slower than 30km/h.
Those caught moving between traffic at more than 30km/h faced heavy fines and three demerit points under a new offence called 'lane splitting'.
Motorcyclists were not permitted to lane filter next to kerbs and parked vehicles, or in school zones.
"With the smaller line of traffic volumes out here, motorcyclists who lane filter in Dubbo probably won't save themselves a lot of time," Inspector Boon said.
"At my last station in North Sydney and the Sydney Police Centre where I rode a motorcycle to work, it would certainly have been useful in congested areas like the CBD, but not so much in the country."
Inspector Boon said police across the region had been briefed about the new laws.
"It's a relatively simple change of legislation, particularly compared with something like the new heavy vehicle laws which were quite complex and required us to attend seminars to get up to speed."
Details of the new law were available at the Transport of NSW website.
