Every time these same lane-spltting statistics are presented, I try to shed some light on what they actually mean. I always get down-voted for doing so, but I think it's important as a community to get educated about these statistics:

The statistics sited in this petition are from Berkeley's study. They are correct, but can be misleading if misunderstood. Berkeley compared lane splitting accidents to ALL motorcycle accidents. For instance, riding on a country road and hit a deer? Well had you been lane splitting, the accident wouldn't have been as bad...

This can obviously lead to a flawed representation of data. It discounts if you are more likely to be involved in an accident while lane splitting in the first place. What we really want to know is "Is lane splitting safer than maintaining your lane". All this study asks is "are accidents that occur while lane splitting less severe than a typical motorcycle accidents in general".

Nobody should be surprised that accidents while lane splitting are less severe because they generally take place on the highway (one direction of traffic) and at lower speeds. It could be argued however that lane splitting not taken place, the accident wouldn't have happened at all.

We shouldn't compare side swiping someone's mirror while lane splitting to getting broadsided in an intersection and then declare lane-splitting safe.

Also, people pick and choose these numbers. Yes, rear ending went from 4.6 to 2.6 percent (again vs all motorcycle crashes in general). What's rarely mentioned is rear ending someone else went from 16 to 38 percent.

And before someone mentions fatality rates in Florida and Texas compared to California, remember that CA is the only state of those three with a mandatory helmet law for all riders.