Three Foot Law
Wish this were the law everywhere. Give a cyclist three feet of room or more to make a safe pass. Seems so simple and yet many drivers just can’t seem to grasp it.
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Wish this were the law everywhere. Give a cyclist three feet of room or more to make a safe pass. Seems so simple and yet many drivers just can’t seem to grasp it.
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#random visit, but had to leave a comment.
I had no idea that the conditions for cyclist are so bad in the U.S. However when looking at the video it is pretty clear, that even though the right to cycle there on the bicycle might be there, the roads are just not safe for cyclist, cars can give a few feet of space, but that makes them get closer to cars going into the opposite direction.
I’m from the Netherlands, a country pretty famous for all the cyclicst. On a road where the speed limit is 30KM/H there’s often no special bike lane, but you can cycle there safely (cars go slow, and they are accustomed to seeing bikes). Starting from 50KM/H there’s usually a special bike lane (most of the time seperated from the car lanes by a bit of grass). On roads with little trafic there is no extra bike lane, and cars can go up to 80KM/H (But because of the little trafics, cars can go to the left side of the road, and they usualy slow down to 60 or less when they see cyclist ). On any road where you can go faster there are no bikes allowed, and there is no bike lane.
I understand that these nice rules and lanes are not present in America, and that everybody would like to use the road, but it’s just not really save , legal or not. Especially because cyclist are so rare in America (cars don’t know what to do with them) and even at 3 feet, a truck going 80KM/H can produce a lot of wind, making it unsafe).
Please keep in mind that I’m only judging from the video above, and from a few stories, and keep in mind that as a Dutchy, I’m of course pro-cycle! But as with anything, always keep in mind if it’s safe.
(Sorry I didn’t meant to make this lecture, I just wanted to point out why cycling works in some countries, and why it might not work in other).
Thanks for the comment! What extra space is given seems to be entirely random in the US. It can depend on traffic, speed or simply what kind of road it is. There is a popular bike route that shoots through a (flat) swampy area. The problem is that it is also a favored traffic route during rush hour and there is no extra space due to the ever creeping swamp water. Fortunately this is also one of the roads where drivers tend to be the nicest, probably because of the sheer number of cyclists.
I agree that three feet between a massive truck and a cyclist is not enough space, but the law has purposes as a deterrent as well. We (cyclists) don’t mind cars passing us, we just wish some of them would do it a little farther away. Especially for fast passes. Personally, I don’t mind a car breaking the three foot law if it is going close to my speed because it doesn’t create the sucking motion.
Cycling shouldn’t be unsafe in any country, regardless of the infrastructure. There will always be roads that cyclists prefer for safety reasons, and/or roads they ignore out of safety concerns independent of the area.