New rules on bikes between lanes

MOTORCYCLISTS around Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille will be formally allowed to ride between lanes of traffic next year - a practice which 97.5% of bikers say they already do.

The four-year experiment from February will apply to all of the Ile-de-France region plus the Gironde, Rhône and Bouches-du-Rhône departments, and its effectiveness will be assessed at the end of each year.

French road safety body CNSR recommended in 2013 that the practice be allowed in a number of pilot areas. A major information campaign will be unveiled in the new year to ensure drivers and motorcyclists are aware of the rules.

A decree published in the Journal Officiel says riding between lanes will be authorised only on dual-carriageways and motorways, where the usual speed limit is at least 70kph and when all the available lanes have solid traffic.

Bikes must stick to the two lanes furthest to the left and not exceed 50kph.

Nathanaël Gagnaire, from the motorcyclists' federation FFMC, said the move was "a positive step forward", although he said it had taken authorities a long time to respond to a practice that has been "commonly applied by bikers for the past 30 years".

A 2012 survey by the Mutuelle des Motards found 97.5% of motorcyclists rode between lanes at times.