Motorcycle lane sharing — New Mexico Permit Test

Cars and motorcycles each need a full lane to operate safely.

A bike squeezed into part of a lane has no room to dodge a door, a turn or a hand out a window.

Cars and motorcycles need a full lane to operate safely.

Lane sharing, a car and a motorcycle riding side by side in one lane, is usually prohibited.

A driver who squeezes in next to a bike leaves the rider with no space if either one moves.

Lane sharing is usually prohibited.

To keep drivers from squeezing by, a rider keeps a center-of-the-lane position.

A bike at the edge of the lane leaves a gap that tempts a driver to pull up alongside it.

Keep a center of the lane position whenever drivers might be tempted to squeeze by you.

Drivers are most tempted to squeeze past a motorcycle in heavy, bumper-to-bumper traffic.

In slow, packed traffic a driver may see the spare room beside a bike and try to use it.

Drivers are most tempted to do this in heavy, bumper-to-bumper traffic, if they want to pass you, when you are preparing to turn at an intersection, or when you are getting in an exit lane or leaving a highway.

How much lane space does a motorcycle need to operate safely?

A full lane. A bike squeezed into part of a lane has no room to dodge a door, a turn or a hand out a window. New Mexico Driver Manual, p.36: “Cars and motorcycles need a full lane to operate safely.”