New Hampshire Bans Lane Splitting but Allows Two Abreast

RSA 265:121 answers the whole question in six short paragraphs, and it is worth reading to the end because the entitlement and the prohibition live side by side. Paragraph I: "All motorcycles are entitled to the full use of a lane and no motor vehicle shall be driven in such a manner as to deprive any motorcycle of the full use of a lane; provided, however, that 2 motorcycles may ride abreast in a single lane." Paragraph II bars a motorcyclist from overtaking and passing in the same lane occupied by the vehicle being overtaken. Paragraph III is the lane splitting ban itself. Paragraph IV caps the pairing at two: motorcycles shall not be driven more than 2 abreast in a single lane. Paragraph V disapplies paragraphs II and III to police officers on duty. Paragraph VI forbids a rider to attach himself or the motorcycle to any other vehicle except a sidecar.

The New Hampshire ban is drafted wider than a plain "no riding on the white line." Paragraph III reaches riding between lanes of traffic AND riding "between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles." That second phrase does not depend on marked lanes at all, so it catches threading between a moving line of cars and a row of parked cars, or between two queues on an unmarked approach to a toll plaza. New Hampshire riders sometimes assume that stopped traffic is different, the way it is under the filtering schemes some other states have adopted. It is not. There is no speed cap, no stopped-vehicles condition and no sunset clause anywhere in RSA 265:121, and the General Court has not amended the section since 1981, 479:49.

Paragraphs I and IV work together as a genuine right, not just a defence. Because paragraph I obliges other drivers not to deprive a motorcycle of the full use of a lane, a car that crowds a rider inside the same lane is the one breaking the law. Because the proviso allows exactly 2 motorcycles abreast and paragraph IV forbids more, a group of three cannot ride line abreast in one lane, and pairing up does not forfeit the full-lane entitlement the way it does in some states: New Hampshire writes the two-abreast allowance as a proviso to the entitlement rather than as an exception that cancels it.

Everything else on a New Hampshire motorcycle flows from RSA 265:119, which grants a rider all the rights and subjects the rider to all the duties applicable to any other driver under title XXI except where the title indicates otherwise. So the ordinary passing rules still bind: RSA 265:20 bars crossing to the left of centre unless that side is clearly visible and free of oncoming traffic, and requires the passing vehicle to return to an authorised lane before coming within 200 feet of an approaching vehicle. RSA 265:19 permits overtaking on the right only when the vehicle ahead is turning left, or on a roadway with unobstructed pavement wide enough for 2 or more lines of vehicles, and never by driving off the roadway.

Two further New Hampshire specifics matter to riders. RSA 265:122, I requires approved protective headgear only for a driver or passenger under 18 years of age, so adult riders are not required to wear a helmet. RSA 265:123 does bind everyone: if the motorcycle has no windshield or screen protecting the driver's eyes and face when sitting erect, the driver must wear eyeglasses, goggles or a protective face shield while the machine is in motion.

RSA 265:121 sets no penalty of its own, so RSA 265:2 supplies it: unless the chapter declares otherwise for a particular offence, a person who commits an act forbidden by chapter 265 is guilty of a violation. That is a deliberate contrast with the section next door, RSA 265:120, V, which fixes a $75 fine for improper riding position, and with RSA 265:16, V, which fixes $50 plus penalty assessment for a lane-keeping breach. Lane splitting has no statutory figure, so the amount comes from the uniform fine schedule developed under RSA 502-A:19-b, V and delivered to the driver as the "Notice of Fine, Division of Motor Vehicles" described in RSA 262:44, I.

The ceiling for any New Hampshire violation is $1,000 under RSA 651:2, IV(a), and RSA 106-L:10, I adds a penalty assessment of $2 or 24 percent of the fine, whichever is greater. A lane splitting summons is eligible for plea by mail: the plea and payment must reach the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles within 30 days of the date of the summons, and a default under RSA 262:44, III(a) adds an administrative processing fee and suspends driving privileges under RSA 263:56-a.