Lane filtering is not legal in Oregon. Riding a motorcycle between lanes of traffic — whether cars are stopped at a light or crawling on the freeway — violates ORS 814.240 and carries a $265 fine.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 814.240 – Motorcycle or Moped Unlawful Passing; Penalty The legislature has tried several times to change that, most recently in 2025, but the ban is still in force.
What the Statute Actually Prohibits
ORS 814.240 bars a motorcycle or moped rider from doing two things: overtaking another vehicle while sharing that vehicle’s lane, and riding between lanes of traffic or between adjacent rows of vehicles.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 814.240 – Motorcycle or Moped Unlawful Passing; Penalty The first covers lane splitting (passing a car alongside it at speed). The second covers lane filtering (threading between two lanes of slow or stopped traffic). Oregon’s official motorcycle manual puts it plainly: “Do not ride between rows of stopped or moving motor vehicles.”2Oregon Driver & Motor Vehicle Services. Section Five – Street Strategies
The statute contains only two exceptions. A motorcycle can pass another motorcycle or moped within the same lane, and on-duty police officers are exempt.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 814.240 – Motorcycle or Moped Unlawful Passing; Penalty Two motorcycles are also allowed to ride side by side in a single lane.2Oregon Driver & Motor Vehicle Services. Section Five – Street Strategies That last point trips people up. Sharing a lane is lawful between motorcycles. It is not lawful between a motorcycle and a car, truck, or any other non-motorcycle vehicle.
The Fine and What Follows It
A citation under ORS 814.240 is a Class B traffic violation.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 814.240 – Motorcycle or Moped Unlawful Passing; Penalty The presumptive fine for a Class B violation is $265.3Oregon Public Law. ORS 153.019 – Presumptive Fines; Generally
Oregon does not use a points system. The DMV instead counts convictions directly through its Driver Improvement Program.4Oregon Driver & Motor Vehicle Services. Suspensions, Revocations and Cancellations For riders 18 and over, the thresholds are:
- Three convictions or preventable accidents in 24 months: a 30-day driving restriction, with no driving between midnight and 5 a.m.
- Five in 24 months: a 30-day license suspension.
- Each additional conviction after five: another 30-day suspension.
One filtering ticket on a clean record will not suspend your license. A rider who already has a couple of speeding convictions may be closer to a restriction than they realize. A moving violation on your record also tends to push motorcycle insurance premiums up, since insurers read it as riskier riding.
How an Illegal Filter Hurts Your Injury Claim
The bigger cost of filtering usually shows up after a crash, not on the ticket. Oregon follows a modified comparative negligence rule under ORS 31.600. You can recover damages from another at-fault party only if your share of the fault does not exceed the combined fault of everyone else, and whatever damages you would otherwise receive get reduced by your percentage of fault.5Oregon Public Law. ORS 31.600 – Contributory Negligence Not Bar to Recovery
If a jury decides you were 40% at fault for filtering when a car merged into you, and your damages total $50,000, you collect $30,000. If your fault exceeds 50%, you recover nothing. A rider who was violating a traffic statute at the moment of impact starts with a built-in disadvantage. Insurance adjusters know this and will use the filtering violation to push your share of blame up and the payout down, even when the other driver was clearly careless.
Bills That Have Tried To Change the Law
The legislature has come close to legalizing filtering more than once, with bipartisan support each time. Every proposal has followed the same general shape: filtering only on higher-speed multi-lane roads, only when traffic is barely moving, and never in school zones or work zones.
Senate Bill 574 in 2021 passed both chambers and was vetoed by Governor Kate Brown on safety grounds. Senate Bill 422 in 2023 passed the Senate but did not advance through the House. It would have allowed filtering on roads posted at 50 mph or higher with at least two lanes in the same direction, and only when traffic was stopped or moving at 10 mph or less.6Oregon State Legislature. Motorcycle Lane Filtering Law Passes Oregon Senate
House Bill 3542, introduced in 2025, proposed amending ORS 814.240 with the most detailed set of conditions yet.7BillTrack50. OR HB3542 Under that bill:
- Traffic would have to be stopped or moving at 10 mph or less, and the motorcycle could not exceed surrounding traffic speed by more than 10 mph.
- The road would have to be posted at 50 mph or higher with at least two lanes in the same direction.
- Filtering would remain prohibited in active school zones, highway work zones, and along the outermost lanes on either side of the road.
- The rider would have to merge back into normal traffic once speeds exceeded 10 mph.
None of that is law yet. Until a bill passes and takes effect, ORS 814.240 controls, and filtering remains a citable violation.
What Neighboring Rules Do Not Change
Riders sometimes assume that because California allows lane splitting and Utah, Arizona, and Montana permit some form of low-speed filtering, Oregon must be similar. It is not. Crossing into Oregon means the ban applies, regardless of what was legal on the road you were riding an hour earlier.