LANE filtering by motorcyclists today is legal in NSW in an Australian first aimed at easing traffic congestion and boosting road safety.

The practice involves riders travelling between lanes of halted or slow-moving cars, usually in central city areas. This includes motorcycles travelling within a lane, on the lane line or into the adjacent lane when filtering.

Government approval of the practice, announced this evening by NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay, follows a three-month trial in Sydney CBD areas.

It is expected to provide a model for all other states where laws on the practice are vague and most riders are unsure whether they are within the law. Police services have been among the groups seeking clarification of the legal position.

Filtering speeds up gridlocked traffic by removing motorcycles from the queues, and lessens the risk of riders being rear-ended by car drivers, the most-common motorcycle accident.

“Ultimately riders are doing drivers a big fat favour by lane filtering and reducing congestion for all. This also highlights the fact that the community consultation process in NSW is alive and well,” said Christopher Burns, spokesman for the Motorcycle Council of NSW.

“Lane Filtering also has the benefit of reducing congestion as motorcycles are not taking up the equivalent of a car space and with close to 4000 motorcycles travelling into the Sydney CBD every weekday one can easily estimate the benefits to car drivers.”

The practice has restrictions.

During the trials riders were not allowed to travel through moving traffic, known as lane splitting, or allowed to overtake to the left of a vehicle in the left-hand lane.

When traffic was queued at intersections, riders could move forward but had to stop behind the stop-line. And riders were not allowed in bus-only lanes.

Car and truck drivers will now have to get used to the possibility that a motorcycle might be squeezing past them in stalled traffic.

Drivers will be urged to watch both their mirrors and look for motorbikes filtering through the traffic, and riders will have to assess risks and if it looks dangerous, ride accordingly.

The Motorcycle Council congratulated Mr Gay and the Government for legalising what Mr Burns said had been “common practice for motorcycle riders across the country and overseas for decades”.