Legislative bills requiring motorists to give bicyclists and pedestrians at least 3 feet of space when passing were rejected in Wyoming and North Dakota in the past week.
Currently, there are 16 states that require a safe-passing distance of 3 feet.
North Dakota
The North Dakota Senate rejected the bill by a vote of 17-29 on Monday. Opponents doubted there could be “consistent and meaningful” enforement of the law, according to the Grand Forks Herald.
The bill was submitted on behalf of bicyclists to make roads safer.
Wyoming
Last week, legislators meeting in Cheyenne narrowly rejected a bill that would have required a 3-foot gap for passing in Wyoming.
The bill pass two earlier votes in the House, but was defeated when it failed to get the necessary 31 votes on its third and last vote tally. It failed 30-28.
Opponents said it would be difficult to enforce and it was “only common sense” for motorists to give bicyclists a lot of room when passing, the AP reported.
Other bills
In addition to the failures in North Dakota and Wyoming, two 3-foot passing bills have failed in Virginia this year and Washington state lawmakers have tabled bills in the House and Senate.
Meanwhile, another 3-foot passing bill for Virginia is slated to go to a Senate Transportation hearing on Thursday, according to the Virginia Bicycling Federation. Also, a bill in Rhode Island would define safe-passing as 3 feet, and an Oklahoma bill would increase fines for violating its 3-foot law.
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