The controversial act of lane-splitting by motorcycle is legal in California. Some drivers believe such actions risks people's lives and should be against the law.

However the California Highway Patrol recently posted their guidelines which suggest they condone such practice.

The guidelines provided below are not laws however there is one basic underlying rule which is motorcycle is allowed to pass between cars in adjoining lanes of traffic as long as it does so safely.

1. A motorcyclist should split lanes at no more than 10 mph above traffic speed.
2. A motorcyclist should not split lanes when traffic is moving at more than 30 mph.
3. A motorcyclist should split lanes using the space between the No. 1 and No. 2 lanes.

The guidelines maybe simple however it took seven years to create and officer may cite a motorcyclist for riding recklessly, whether obeying the guidelines or not, said Sgt. Mark Pope, statewide coordinator for the CHP's California Motorcyclist Safety Program.

"Everybody, proponent and opponent alike," Pope said. "There were people that believed [lane-splitting] was unsafe."

The hard line was drawn in the discussion by motorcycle advocates that California would remain the only state in the nation to condone lane splitting.

A research paper conducted in 2011 by James V. Ouellet, a motorcycle-accident analyst reveals that in congested freeway traffic, motorcyclists were less likely to have accidents while splitting lanes, by more than 2 to 1, than those who were not.

Pope stated that the guidelines are needed more for the drivers than the motorcyclists.

"It became apparent there was a need to educate the people driving cars," he said.

He also suggested that motorcyclists may be responsible for their own bad reputation.

"We have a way in our community of being our own worst enemy," Pope said. "It's the guy with the loud pipes or the guy who blows through traffic scaring the lady who is driving to church. That's what the people in the cars remember."