Motorcycle Lane Splitting, Filtering Allowed in MN Beginning July 1

Motorcycle lane splitting and filtering will be legal on Minnesota roads beginning Tuesday, July 1st.

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety, the new law, passed by the legislature in 2024, allows motorcycles to share lanes with cars for the first time in the state. But there are notable restrictions on speed and where lane sharing can be performed.

In Minnesota, lane splitting allows a motorcycle to share a lane with and pass a vehicle in slow-moving traffic at no more than 25 mph and no more than 15 mph over the speed of traffic. Once traffic gets back up to 25 mph, the motorcycle must go back into its own lane of traffic.

Lane filtering allows motorcycles to move through traffic that is stopped, such as at a stoplight or in a traffic jam. The motorcyclist cannot go more than 15 mph as they filter toward the front of the line of traffic.

“Riders, this is not a free pass for dangerous driving behaviors,” said Mike Hanson, Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety Director, at a press conference held Monday. “Take it slow, and if it doesn’t feel safe, you don’t have to do it. Remember that decision to share or split that lane is the rider’s responsibility to make. And so if you’re comfortable with it, then you can make that decision. If you’re not, then just stay in the lane and move along with traffic.”

Safety officials say motorists need to be aware of motorcycles that are splitting and filtering and cannot get in their way, but they are not obligated to accommodate them. Splitting and filtering are prohibited in roundabouts, school zones, freeway on-ramps, and work zones where traffic has been funneled down to a single lane.