3 Feet Rule

For those of you who have ever done some urban cycling, you can know how petrifiying it can be when you are riding down a major road and you can literally feel the wind of the car passing you or you say a little prayer hoping the right side mirror will not clip you.

22 states across the country have passed laws saying that a car must give a biker a minimum of three feet (one meter) when passing.  Just a few weeks ago, PA went as far as giving a minimum of four feet which is AMAZING!!!  Below is a picture of the states which have passed a similar law.  It is nice to see that several of the state we will be passing through have the law in place - it will help give us some piece of mind while on the road.  Check out how your state stacks up.  (I know PA and one other state are missing from the map)

HB 170 amends PA’s motor vehicle code to provide the following protections:

• Every car that passes a bike must give a minimum of 4-feet of clearance at a “prudent reduced speed”
• No turn by a motorist may interfere with a bicycle proceeding straight (the classic right hook)
• This is huge and another super scary way to be taken out on a bike (been there done that)
• Bicycles may be operated at a safe and reasonable speed appropriate for bicycles
• Bicycles must be operated in the right hand lane, or as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of roadway.
• This does not apply to a bicycle using any portion of the road due to unsafe surface conditions.

The next step will be to use advocacy to help educate drivers and bikers about the new rule so help spread the word!!