Lane filtering is quickly becoming an accepted and legal practice in the states after numerous studies have demonstrated its safety benefits.
A total of six U.S. states now allow lane filtering, the careful, precise movement of a motorcycle between two lanes of slow-moving traffic. In July of 2025, Minnesota became the latest state to make the maneuver legal, joining California, Utah, Arizona, Montana, and Colorado as the only states where bikers can lane filter without breaking the law. (Of these six, California is the only state that also allows high-speed lane splitting — and there is a difference between the two!)
But even though it’s legal in these half-dozen states, each has its own set of strict limits on how and when riders can filter. For instance, Minnesota’s law allows filtering when traffic is moving 25 mph or slower, but bikers can’t ride more than 15 mph faster than the surrounding traffic. Alternatively, Colorado says riders have to stick to 15 mph or slower while filtering, and riders can only filter between stopped vehicles traveling in the same direction.
