Who says you've got to pass?
Newspapers in California are beginning to pick up on the proposed legislation that would require motorists to give bicycles three feet of space when they drive past.
A story, “Cyclists like push for safety in bill” (that unfortunately quotes just one cyclist), printed by several MediaNews newspapers around the state reports that the same opponents to an earlier version of the bill that was defeated last April are lining up again.
From what I read, here's the major argument posed by the opponents:
It is unsafe to drive into the path of oncoming traffic in order to pass a bicyclist by three feet.
That's essentially the opinion of a Teamster's lobbyist, a spokesman for AAA of Northern California, and a Republican assemblyman from Livermore.
What these people need to remember is that nowhere in the bill does it say a motorist must pass the bicycle right then and there. You don't — or shouldn't — blindly swerve past a tractor or other slow-moving vehicle if there's oncoming traffic.
Since the bicyclist is entitled to the road, what prevents the motorist from waiting until oncoming traffic is clear and then passing?
The proposed legislation, Assembly Bill 60 (check at bill information), was introduced by Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara. A previous bill was killed in the Assembly Transportation Committee in April.
Nava has been pushing for the bill since the death of a UC-Santa Barbara triathlete, Kendra Chiota Payne, who was struck by a passing truck while she was on a training ride.
See also: California and Texas wrangling over 3-foot clearances for bicycles; Oregon's 3-foot passing bill, SB 299.
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