Tasmania joins the move to lane filtering across Australia with the lowest fine, leaving Western Australia as the only state that has not joined in.
Lane filtering starts in the Apple Isle on January 29 2018 with a fine of $159 and two demerit points, which is the lowest in the country along with Victoria which has no demerit points.
In NSW, riders can be fined $659 and three demerit points (but no double demerits) for lane filtering breaches.
In Queensland the fine is $341 and three demerit points and in South Australia it’s $363 and three demerit points.
Rule variances
Tasmania lane filtering rules are similar to other states, but not exactly the same.
The overriding rules in all states are that lane filtering is restricted to 30km/h and full motorcycle licence holders and is only permitted “when it is safe to do so”, which gives police some leeway in fining riders.
Tasmania does not allow lane filtering in school zones or on crossings, next to parked cars, or between vehicles and the kerb.
Click here to see how the lane filtering rules vary from state to state.
NSW started lane filtering in 2015 and Queensland followed the next year, then Victoria and South Australia joined in.
Here’s a sign we’d like to see!Still waiting
A lane-filtering trial started in the ACT in February 2015 for two years and was extended indefinitely early last year, pending the outcome of an evaluation based on community feedback and crash data.
A spokeswoman for ACT Road safety Minister Shane Rattenbury says the community awareness phone survey and a pre-trial survey were “largely positive, showing a significant increase in community support and understanding of the road rules relating to lane filtering”.
“The crash data component will include an analysis of pre and post-trial numbers of motorcyclists involved in road crashes, particularly rear-end and side-swipe collisions, and same direction crashes at intersections,” she says.
Motorcycle Riders Association ACT spokeswoman and Ulysses national president Jen Woods says the delays is “driving me mad”.
“Changes in the ACT government department seem to have slowed this down,” she says.
Western Australia is believed poised to introduce rules and the Northern Territory Government is still considering lane filtering.
National lane filtering rules
National Transport Ministers recently approved updates to the Australian Road Rules (ARRs) which include the introduction of nationally-consistent rules relating to motorcycle lane-filtering.
The updates would then need to be adopted by states and territories within their own laws to take effect.
A Northern Territory government spokesman says their Road Safety Action Plan – Towards Zero public discussion paper released in May 2017 listed “Evaluate the introduction of lane filtering” as an option for consideration.
“Once the Road Safety Action Plan has been finalised and considered by Government, and the ARRs have been updated, the introduction of lane filtering in the Northern Territory can be further considered,” he says.
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