HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — Although it’s now legal for Utah motorcyclists to filter between stopped traffic at an intersection under certain conditions, the new law does not apply to Hill Air Force Base.

Utah’s new lane filtering law will allow motorcycles outside the base to move between two lanes to the front of stopped traffic. The law is not intended for motorcyclists to simply move through traffic without waiting, but is a safety measure and will help prevent motorcycles from being rear ended. Without bumpers, motorcyclist are far more venerable to critical injury in rear end accidents.

“I see the need for this law for the safety of motorcyclists and I think it’s well written,” said Jesse Fuller, vice president of the Hill Riders Association. “The biggest challenge is to get the word out to drivers that it is legal, and motorcyclists aren’t simply skipping a line.”

Fuller said there was a record-high 47 fatalities of motorcyclists in Utah in 2018 and he hopes that laws such as the lane filtering law will help reduce these numbers.

Motorcyclists who are lane filtering on base are subject to being ticketed by Security Forces.

For motorcyclists outside the base gates, lane filtering is only legal under the following conditions:

– The speed limit must be 45 miles an hour or less

– The vehicles a motorcyclist is passing must be stopped

– A motorcyclists can’t be traveling more than 15 miles an hour while passing another vehicle

– A motorcyclist must be traveling on a roadway with two or more lanes in the same direction