Delaware Lane Splitting: No Ban, No Right, One Passing Rule

Delaware's motorcycle operating section, 21 Del. C. Section 4185, is unusually silent on lane position. It covers seats and passenger footrests, helmets and eye protection, keeping at least 1 hand on a handgrip at all times when moving, sitting astride the seat facing forward with 1 leg on each side, and not carrying packages that prevent keeping both hands on the handlebars. It says nothing about riding between lanes, nothing about entitlement to a full lane, and nothing about two riders abreast. A search of the whole of Title 21 for the word abreast returns only bicycle provisions, which cap cyclists at 2 abreast. Delaware is therefore neither a prohibition state nor a permission state on this question, which means the rules that actually decide it are the general overtaking and lane-discipline sections in Chapter 41.

Section 4116 sets out how passing works and it is written in three cases. Under Section 4116(1), on a roadway with at least 2 travel lanes proceeding in the same direction, and where a lane to the left exists, the overtaking driver must yield the right-of-way, proceed with caution and move completely into the lane to the left before passing. The word completely is the whole answer for the classic freeway split: a rider straddling the lane line has not moved completely into the left lane and is passing from a position the statute does not allow. Section 4116(2) covers the same-direction single lane that is too narrow to share, and again requires the overtaking driver to move completely into the lane to the left, subject to the limitations in Sections 4118 through 4120.

Section 4116(3) is the exception people misread as permission to filter, and it is worth reading carefully. It applies only on a roadway with just 1 travel lane proceeding in a given direction, only where that lane is wide enough for the two vehicles to travel safely side by side within it, and only where the vehicle or bicycle to be overtaken is itself positioned in the right part of the lane leaving sufficient space. Three duties then attach: reduce speed to lessen the speed differential, pass to the left at a reasonable and prudent distance that may never be less than 3 feet, and return to a normal position in the lane only when safely clear. Nothing in it reaches stopped traffic on a multi-lane road, and nothing in it lets a rider pass on the right or ride the line between two lanes.

Section 4122(1) closes the gap from the other side. On any roadway divided into 2 or more clearly marked lanes, a vehicle must be driven as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane and may not be moved from that lane until the driver has first ascertained the movement can be made with safety. Delaware also forecloses the local workaround. Under Section 4101(b), local authorities, except as expressly authorized by law, may not enact or enforce any rules or regulations contrary to Chapter 41, and local ordinances that substantially conform are treated as equivalent to the state sections. So no Delaware city or county can create a filtering pilot the way some states have; that would take an act of the General Assembly.

One related rule cuts against riders and drivers alike. Section 4117(b)(2) makes overtaking and passing on the right unlawful upon any roadway officially marked for more than 1 traffic lane in 1 direction, except as the section allows, and Section 4117(a) bars any passing movement made by driving off the roadway, main traveled portion or regular moving traffic lane, apart from the narrow shoulder allowances for a vehicle waiting to turn left and for DelDOT and emergency vehicles.

Sections 4116, 4117 and 4122 all sit in Chapter 41, so the penalty is the general one in 21 Del. C. 50 and not more than $95. A second offense counts as such only if it was committed within 24 months of the first, unless a section says otherwise. Section 4116(5) shows the Legislature applying that same penalty by name to a specific lane behaviour, driving below the posted speed limit in the left lane of a multilane roadway when it impedes other vehicles, which confirms Section 4205 as the operative penalty for the passing rules.

A rider who splits lanes and causes a collision faces the ordinary consequences on top of the equipment-free citation, and because a lane-splitting pass is unlawful under Section 4116(1) or Section 4122(1) the rider carries fault into any civil claim that follows.