Your Take on Washington Motorcycle Laws

We Heard Your Thoughts!

You Sounded off on Facebook About Motorcycle Laws!

Thanks to all who commented on the Eagle Leather Facebook page about proposed legislation here in Washington State that affects motorcycle enthusiasts.

The most comments were in favor of lane sharing. This law would allow motorcycle riders to go between two lanes of same-direction traffic in a slow-down or traffic jam. Some of you would also like to see legislation that allows riders to use the shoulder when traffic is slow or stopped. Both these changes would help avoid rear-end collisions, proponents say. Another suggestion would allow motorcyclists to advance to the head of the line at red lights, as at ferry loading, as a first step toward lane sharing.

Helmet requirements are always a bone of contention and several people commented on them. A proposed law would allow people over 18 to choose whether or not to wear a helmet. Another law would relieve riders of legal responsibility when helmet manufacturers failed to meet federal standards.

Several other commenters were in favor of changing the law regarding red lights. Sometimes a motorcycle, bicycle, or moped is too light to trigger a turn signal on the traffic light. The current law allow motorcycle riders to proceed under specified conditions. The proposed law would extend this to bicycles and mopeds.

Distracted and speeding drivers were also mentioned. One commenter would like to see texting while driving treated in the same way as a DUI.

One commenter took the trouble to list all the laws before the current session and links to the bill and to information about the bill—including sponsors. Using the links he provided, Eagle Leather customers can easily reach interested legislators to comment in favor of bills or against them.

Here at Eagle Leather, we’ve been thinking about asking legislators who are for and against some of these crucial bills to have a debate and question session here at Eagle Leather. What do you think? Please use the Eagle Leather Facebook page to let us know.


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