Have you ever been startled by a motorcycle passing by you very closely, at a high rate of speed, while you're stuck in slow traffic? It happened to me yesterday while I was on I-91 North in Hartford. There's only one state in the country where 'Lane splitting' is legal, and it's not Connecticut.

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A group of 4-5 motorcycles shook my vehicle as they were cutting through the slower-moving pack of traffic by Bradley Airport on I-91, it scared the hell out of my wife, Chihuahua and I. The pack of traffic we were in was doing about 70-75MPH, which is honestly tame for that stretch. The 4-5 motorcycles had to be doing 80-90MPH in between the lanes.

According to the State of Connecticut, what they did was illegal. Sec. 14-289b. (b) states that the operator of a motorcycle shall not operate their vehicle between lanes of traffic. In fact, lane splitting is only legal in one US state - California. California has placed some limits on lane splitting - You can only lane split at 10MPH above surrounding traffic, below 30MPH, and you can't do it near highway on and off-ramps.

According to motorcyclelegalfoundation.com, there have been attempts by lawmakers to introduce legislation legalizing lane splitting in Connecticut over the past few years, but it doesn't appear to be getting traction. I haven't ridden a motorcycle in over 20 years, I realized that as good of a rider that I thought I was, there are just too many unpredictable, erratic operators on the twisty, hilly roadways that we call home.

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