Planning for next year, Making the Roads Safer For Bicyclists
These are some of the road races I'll be committed to this coming year. I alo know I'll be doing sport mountain bike racing at Sea Otter on Sunday, April 15 and I registered to do the olympic distance for Wildflower. I probably won't do any races until March except for 5 or 10ks .
March 24th - Santa Rosa Corporate Criterium (this is the same course as Apple Pie in Feb)
April 13th - Sea Otter Circuit Race (did anyone else notice this is Friday the 13th?)
May 27th - Mt. Hamilton Road Race (also the CAT4 Women’s Road Race Championship)
June 9th - Pescadero Road Race
July 22nd - Albany Criterium
August 18th - Dunnigan Hills Road Race
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The bill to require a 3 foot passing distance has been reintroduced.
This law has been successfully implemented in - Utah
Sacramento Bee
A Santa Barbara assemblyman is fighting to change state law -- by 36 inches.
Democrat Pedro Nava, in memory of a 21-year-old bicyclist struck and killed by a trailer truck on a narrow Santa Barbara road, is pushing for a 3-foot buffer zone for bicycles that are passed by cars or other motor vehicles.
"It's from your nose to the end of your fingertip," Nava said. "It's an easy distance to remember. And I think it's the least we can do for bicycle safety."
Violators would be subject to base fines of $250, rising to about $875 once local fees are tacked on. Motorists could be charged criminally if a bicyclist were killed or seriously injured.
Nava is pushing his measure, Assembly Bill 60, in honor of Kendra Chiota Payne, a triathlete for the University of California, Santa Barbara, who died in a morning training run last January.
Paul Dorn blogs about it here:
http://bikecommutetips.blogspot.com/
I highly, highly value Paul Dorn's opinion, but I feel he is mistaken in this one instance.
I disagree that this bill is merely "feel-good " legislation. It seems to me that the police are extremely reluctant to respond to a complaint of a car driver buzzing a cyclist. Routinely I have heard police officers say if the cyclist wasn't injured, then the car didn't pass too close. Never mind that a rock in the roadway could have instantly changed the outcome.
I have worked on the Bicycle Incident Report Page ( http://www.penbiped.net/incidentReports.php ) for years since its inception in 2002 and having legislation like this would have resulted in prosecution for Roy Cox of TARWTR fame instead of the mere talking-to he got from the police.
I would also quibble with Paul Dorn about the frequency of injury from passing too close. Yes, a rare incident is a hit-from-behind incident. However, a 3 foot width rule - is 3 feet in all directions - this would cover all situations of a cyclist being hit - front, back and side, not just rear-ending.
Having this legislation makes it clear that a violation has taken place and is measurable. In addition, it seems to me that if a motorist strikes and injures or kills a cyclist, the motorist has already de facto violated this passing rule and it will then be on the motorist to prove that he couldn't avoid the collision, instead of having a presumption of innocence. So in essence, I think this legislation could serve as an alternative to a strict liability law. I guess it would be up to the lawyers to tell us if this interpretation is reasonable.
However, aside from that, giving motorists clearer rules can only help - most people want to obey rules they feel are reasonable - most people are turning on their headlights when it rains due to new legislation - you could argue that was only feel-good legislation, but most people are obeying it. Having a 3 foot width should similarly resonate as a reasonable thing to ask for.
*****************
And finally, what could be:(Thanks to BikeDave for posting this on the SFBike list)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1220/p01s03-woeu.html
FREIBURG, GERMANY - It's pickup time at the Vauban kindergarten here at the edge of the Black Forest, but there's not a single minivan waiting for the kids. Instead, a convoy of helmet-donning moms - bicycle trailers in tow - pedal up to the entrance.
Welcome to Germany's best-known environmentally friendly neighborhood and a successful experiment in green urban living. The Vauban development - 2,000 new homes on a former military base 10 minutes by bike from the heart of Freiburg - has put into practice many ideas that were once dismissed as eco-fantasy but which are now moving to the center of public policy.
March 24th - Santa Rosa Corporate Criterium (this is the same course as Apple Pie in Feb)
April 13th - Sea Otter Circuit Race (did anyone else notice this is Friday the 13th?)
May 27th - Mt. Hamilton Road Race (also the CAT4 Women’s Road Race Championship)
June 9th - Pescadero Road Race
July 22nd - Albany Criterium
August 18th - Dunnigan Hills Road Race
*************************
The bill to require a 3 foot passing distance has been reintroduced.
This law has been successfully implemented in - Utah
Sacramento Bee
A Santa Barbara assemblyman is fighting to change state law -- by 36 inches.
Democrat Pedro Nava, in memory of a 21-year-old bicyclist struck and killed by a trailer truck on a narrow Santa Barbara road, is pushing for a 3-foot buffer zone for bicycles that are passed by cars or other motor vehicles.
"It's from your nose to the end of your fingertip," Nava said. "It's an easy distance to remember. And I think it's the least we can do for bicycle safety."
Violators would be subject to base fines of $250, rising to about $875 once local fees are tacked on. Motorists could be charged criminally if a bicyclist were killed or seriously injured.
Nava is pushing his measure, Assembly Bill 60, in honor of Kendra Chiota Payne, a triathlete for the University of California, Santa Barbara, who died in a morning training run last January.
Paul Dorn blogs about it here:
http://bikecommutetips.blogspot.com/
I highly, highly value Paul Dorn's opinion, but I feel he is mistaken in this one instance.
I disagree that this bill is merely "feel-good " legislation. It seems to me that the police are extremely reluctant to respond to a complaint of a car driver buzzing a cyclist. Routinely I have heard police officers say if the cyclist wasn't injured, then the car didn't pass too close. Never mind that a rock in the roadway could have instantly changed the outcome.
I have worked on the Bicycle Incident Report Page ( http://www.penbiped.net/incidentReports.php ) for years since its inception in 2002 and having legislation like this would have resulted in prosecution for Roy Cox of TARWTR fame instead of the mere talking-to he got from the police.
I would also quibble with Paul Dorn about the frequency of injury from passing too close. Yes, a rare incident is a hit-from-behind incident. However, a 3 foot width rule - is 3 feet in all directions - this would cover all situations of a cyclist being hit - front, back and side, not just rear-ending.
Having this legislation makes it clear that a violation has taken place and is measurable. In addition, it seems to me that if a motorist strikes and injures or kills a cyclist, the motorist has already de facto violated this passing rule and it will then be on the motorist to prove that he couldn't avoid the collision, instead of having a presumption of innocence. So in essence, I think this legislation could serve as an alternative to a strict liability law. I guess it would be up to the lawyers to tell us if this interpretation is reasonable.
However, aside from that, giving motorists clearer rules can only help - most people want to obey rules they feel are reasonable - most people are turning on their headlights when it rains due to new legislation - you could argue that was only feel-good legislation, but most people are obeying it. Having a 3 foot width should similarly resonate as a reasonable thing to ask for.
*****************
And finally, what could be:(Thanks to BikeDave for posting this on the SFBike list)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1220/p01s03-woeu.html
FREIBURG, GERMANY - It's pickup time at the Vauban kindergarten here at the edge of the Black Forest, but there's not a single minivan waiting for the kids. Instead, a convoy of helmet-donning moms - bicycle trailers in tow - pedal up to the entrance.
Welcome to Germany's best-known environmentally friendly neighborhood and a successful experiment in green urban living. The Vauban development - 2,000 new homes on a former military base 10 minutes by bike from the heart of Freiburg - has put into practice many ideas that were once dismissed as eco-fantasy but which are now moving to the center of public policy.