Rhode Island Has No Lane-Splitting Statute, So the Single-Lane Rule at § 31-15-11 Controls

The absence here is structural, not an oversight of research. Chapter 15 of title 31 is titled "Passing, Use of Lanes, and Rules of the Road" and runs from § 31-15-1 to § 31-15-20, and no section in it mentions motorcycles at all. Chapter 10.1, the chapter dedicated to motorcycle and motor-driven-cycle licensing, covers examinations, helmets, handlebar height, passengers, autocycles and inspection, and says nothing about lane position. The word "abreast" appears in title 31 only in § 31-19-7, which lets bicycles ride two abreast, so the Rhode Island General Assembly has legislated about riding side by side, but only for bicycles. There is no counterpart granting motorcyclists an entitlement to a full lane and no counterpart permitting two riders to share one.

Section 31-15-11 is the operative rule. Its opening clause applies whenever a roadway has been divided into two or more clearly marked lanes, and paragraph (1) then requires that a vehicle be driven as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane and not be moved from that lane until the driver has first ascertained that the movement can be made with safety. Riding along a lane line between two columns of traffic is not driving within a single lane, and the qualifier is "as nearly as practical", which addresses momentary deviation rather than deliberate lane straddling. Paragraph (2) adds a rule specific to three-lane roads, keeping vehicles out of the center lane except to overtake with clear visibility, to prepare for a left turn, or where the center lane is signposted as allocated to that direction.

Filtering up the right also runs into § 31-15-5. Subsection (a) permits overtaking on the right only when the vehicle overtaken is making or about to make a left turn, or on a one-way street or a roadway restricted to one direction that is free of obstructions and wide enough for two or more lines of moving vehicles. Subsection (b) adds that in no event shall the movement be made by driving off the pavement or main-traveled portion of the roadway, which closes the shoulder route. Section 31-15-16 independently makes it an offense to operate a motor vehicle for travel on the emergency break-down lane of any highway. Passing on the left is governed by § 31-15-4, which in Rhode Island still requires the overtaking driver to give a timely, audible signal and to pass to the left at a safe distance, and by § 31-15-6, which requires the passing vehicle to return to the right-hand side before coming within one hundred feet of an oncoming vehicle.

The stacking risk is what raises the stakes. Under the Aggressive Driving Act, § 31-27.1-3, aggressive driving means operating a motor vehicle in violation of chapter 14 of title 31, the speed chapter, while also violating two or more listed sections. Overtaking on the right under § 31-15-5 is item (2) on that list, driving within a traffic lane under § 31-15-1 is item (3), and use of the emergency break-down lane for travel under § 31-15-16 is item (9). A rider filtering past stopped traffic at more than the posted speed can therefore trip the aggressive-driving threshold with the very manoeuvres that make up splitting.

One quirk of the Rhode Island books is worth knowing when reading a summons. Section 31-15-1 is captioned "Right half of road" in the General Laws, but the schedule of violations at § 31-41.1-4 lists it as "Leaving lane of travel" and § 31-27.1-3(3) calls it "Driving within a traffic lane". The single-lane duty a splitting citation actually rests on is in § 31-15-11(1), not § 31-15-1.

Lane splitting is charged as an ordinary moving violation rather than under a dedicated offense. I. Gen. 00 for use of the emergency break-down lane for travel under § 31-15-16. These are civil violations handled administratively through the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal. 1-4 then sets a fine of not less than $260 nor more than $500, allows the tribunal to require attendance at a driver-improvement program approved by the Division of Motor Vehicles on a first offense, and permits a minimum thirty-day suspension of the driver's license.

1-4(b) expressly allows the lesser included offenses that make up aggressive driving to be prosecuted separately, so a rider can face both. All aggressive-driving cases are heard and determined by the traffic tribunal under regulations promulgated by its chief magistrate.