[2/20/22] 6-Min Read: A friend posted a photo of what I guess is a new bumper sticker or some such that must so far be a one-off because even a Google image search failed to identify any “like” images on the entire internet, at least that have been captured by Google’s search engines. The image is intended to remind motorists of the need to afford cyclists — at least in New Jersey –– with 4-Feet of clearance when passing them on a public road.
In fact, the “NJ Safe Passing Law” website that was linked to the image didn’t even show that image, but it did provide a plethora of other images and information on the “new” New Jersey law passed back in August 2021 that actually addresses the need for motorists to “Slow Down, Move Over” for pedestrians and other wheeled or road using riders, aka, cyclists.
- New Jersey, like Pennsylvania, has adopted a 4-Foot “safe passing distance” standard for their law, noting here in Georgia and many other places the distance specified is 3-Feet.
- However, not to be outdone, Delaware, Kentucky, Nevada, Oklahoma and Washington State’s safe-passing distance laws require motorists to move into an adjacent lane if one exists when passing a cyclist.
- There are a variety of other passing standards, everything from North Carolina’s minimal 2-Foot passing requirement except in marked no-pass zones where the motorist is required to leave 4-Feet of clearance.
- South Dakota also has a two-tiered passing law where a 3-Foot passing requirement applies on roads with posted speeds of 35 miles per hour or less, but is increased to a minimum of 6-Feet separation for roads with speed limits greater than 35 miles per hour.
- Thirty-five other states and the District of Columbia have adopted the more common 3-Foot rule. But, to make it “easy” to remember what anyone’s state standards might be –– since everyone’s so good about keeping track of and abiding by ALL the traffic laws in not only their home states, but every other state they frequently travel to or through — here’s a handy chart:
The reason I’ve taken as much of reader’s time to go through some of the high-level state legislature “laws” regarding safe passing distance is to underscore my key themes:
- Given how many motorists can’t nor won’t even abide by speed limits or who run red-lights which are perhaps some of the few, universally applied laws in every state,
- why does anyone believe the average citizen / motorist from any given state will know or care about the fine-points of the dozens of other obscure traffic laws passed in their states.
- So, what’s the point of passing these “feel good” laws” to endear politicians to certain voting blocks of constituents with “tough-sounding” legislation that won’t change the trajectory of motorist-caused injuries and/or deaths of other road users?
Let me drive the point home, here are the high-level “details” regarding New Jersey’s “tougher” passing laws that were just added to the state’s books back in August 2021:
- Drivers are once again, for the 100th time, urged to drive with “due caution” which is the basis of every traffic law, whether it be abiding by speed limits, not driving while under the influence or being distracted…. such as being more attentive to the latest Tweet or Facebook Post from the people they follow than driving with their eyes on the road to ensure they don’t drive-into someone with the 3,500 lb to 5,500 lb lethal weapon their supposed to be operating with due caution.
- These same motorists who are already late and speeding to God-only-knows what life-altering appointment, while fiddling with their audio/passenger video system, telling small kids to behave in the backseat, trying to follow their phone’s far-too small GPS maps, or checking the aforementioned, all-important Tweets and Posts on social media are supposed to yield a safe distance when approaching and passing a cyclist –in this case, 4-feet per New Jersey’s new law — to other road users when:
- They are hardly aware there are other road users unless someone is driving a bigger, more threatening vehicle than the one they’re in, or
- Don’t have a hot-clue what 4-feet looks like even though most traffic lanes are only 8 or 9-feet wide while the average width of a car in the U.S. is about 6-feet, i.e., you can’t stay in the lane and safely pass a bicycle…. it’s a physics issue where two objects can’t occupy the same space at the same time, i.e., [(9′ – 6′ – 4′ = -1′) + 3′ (the average space occupied by a cyclist)] means your vehicle would need to be at least half-way over the centerline of the road to comply with the law.
- And, if none of that is possible, driver’s must reduce their speed to 25 miles per hour and be prepared to stop…. which at 25mph will take 55 feet under optimal conditions.
- But, if you don’t do those things and a police officer actually decides to stop you, you may get a ticket and a $100 fine and, if you happen to strike a pedestrian, cyclist or other road user because you failed to practice “due caution” and follow the safe-passing distance laws and cause them bodily harm, it’ll cost you $500 and a couple of points on your driving record,
- That is, if you happen to stop and wait for police to arrive after knowingly hitting or unknowingly forcing a cyclist off the road who then crashed and broke a collar bone, suffered a concussion or worse.
On, yeah that’s going to work, right?
Georgia passed it’s first “Better Bicycling Law” back in July 2011 that required a 3-Foot safe passing distance. Georgia recently updated the law in July 2021 — some 10 years later — to incorporate language that said, in essence, it’s OK to cross a double-yellow line to give cyclists that safe passing distance since it wasn’t spelled-out in the 2011 law. Now, it makes you wonder just how many Georgia motorists simply parked their cars and refused to cross those double-yellow lines when faced with any other obstacle in the road during the past 10 years? I swear, in Georgia, if you can fog a mirror, you can get a driver’s license.
The bottom line is, none of these laws are understood or adhered to by 90% or more of the motorists on the road, notwithstanding the motorists who actually grasp the over-arching concept of practicing “due caution” whenever operating a motor vehicle who know the basic pass-fail test is not causing a collision while operating a vehicle.
Seriously, the latter is the #1 rule and the only rule any vehicle operator would need to follow and comply with. Of course, that assumes at least two road users were following that basic rule and therein lies the problem and the easy out: it wasn’t MY fault. And, anymore, police don’t even bother to fully-investigate non-fatal accidents, they let the insurance companies sort it out.
There’s probably only one other law on the books that surpasses the “Safe Passing or 3-Foot Law” in Georgia for being the least followed and least enforced of new motor vehicle laws passed during the past 10 years, and that would be the “Hands-Free” phone laws that makes it a crime to use a hand-held smart phone while operating a vehicle.
Well, that’s the simple explanation of at least the Georgia law, it’s actually far more detailed than that… but few follow the law and those charged with enforcing it only do so after someone’s died as a result of a motor vehicle collision where, sure enough, phone records showed the motorist cited for the motor vehicle law they failed to follow that resulted in the collision — which is usually because they were violating the hands-free law — gets that added to the laundry list of charges that may or may not result in anything more than the vehicular manslaughter charges. Charges that “might” be forthcoming if there’s a political angle in it for the county, city or state prosecutor to move forward with the costly case.
The following statement perhaps sums up the entire sham of paper-tiger laws like the safe-passing bills from a new article written after Georgia recently passed it’s 10-year reminder of the 3-Foot passing law in July 2021:
“I think if motorists are not abiding and they’re seen by law enforcement they need to get ticketed, you know because the greatest law in the books isn’t going to mean anything if it’s not enforced,” said Randy Duteau, Georgia Bikes! Board Member.
Last, but not least, we need to address how well these added laws have changed the trajectory of metrics regarding cycling in the U.S. To do that, I took a look at the NHTSA FARS data base and pulled a few number, and the trend is not good. You can find my assessment of the data HERE.
But, then again, I’m not sure the “advocates” are advocating for all cyclists, at least based on the data in terms of when, where and who are most likely being involved in fatal cycling accidents around the U.S..
I may expand what I’ve found to look at some other nations to see if there are similar trends but, in general, I don’t think most “advocates” have a firm grasp on who the most at-risk groups of people who ride bicycles are. The details are here, but in general, it appears as though the most at-risk people who ride bicycles are not who most cycling enthusiasts would call cyclists: they’re just people who ride bicycles to get to and from work, often times between dusk and dawn on inexpensive bikes wearing dark work clothes and without any safety equipment, as even that’s outside of their economic means. And, yes, alcohol consumption by “cyclists” tends to be involved in as many as 50% of “cycling fatalities,” far greater than the of motorists involved in cycling fatality accidents.
The following are just a “few” of the things I’ve posted to my blogs regarding how effective all of these laws have been, to include photos and videos of a mere fraction of the vehicles that “buzz” us on a daily basis whenever we’re cycling on public roads in Georgia near our home.
Note that I gave up on cataloging all of the encounters because there are at least several on any given day when we go out to ride on our local roads. And, quite frankly, it’s gotten worse since 2018 when I did several months-worth of video capture of all the encounters. In fact, since the on-set of Covid, the numbers of reckless driving acts I observe on a daily basis has become too hard to keep track of.
As an example of the latter, we live on a narrow, two-lane twisty, rolling and tree-covered road posted for 35mph that’s used as a short-cut by far-too many motorists trying to avoid the traffic-light snarled U.S. Highway 41 where I’d guess their average speed is closer to 45mph, with 55+ mph not being all that uncommon. In fact, there are motorists who will pass you on the double-yellow if you’re only doing 38-40 mph, only to be no further ahead once they get to the next stop sign, traffic circle or stoplight. All risk for no reward…
A History Trip to Cobb County Georgia 
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