Someone asked if the 3 foot law was on the driver's exam...that might have started the whole yard stick discussion.
I just talked to Larry Corsi at DOT. The driver's exam has 50 questions on it that are selected by a computer from a list of 136 (two of the 136 are bike questions). So the odds of getting a bike question are pretty small. There is a subset of questions that are "required" on the exam, and Larry thought that one of the required questions involved visually impaired pedestrians, but he wasn't sure. The exam was probably last updated in 2002. Larry is talking to the people who update the exam about working more with bike/ped folks when they revise the exam. Also, I confirmed that close to 500,000 copies of a bicycle safety flyer have gone out with DOT mailings since 2005. In the winter, they will probably do one on pedestrians and then switch back to bicycles in the spring. I've posted the bicycle flyer currently being used at https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/dsward2/web/dot_bikeped_insert.pdf for those who would like to see it. I'll note that the driver's manual isn't half bad in Wisconsin. Bike info is integrated throughout and also at the end. It is posted at http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/drivers/apply/handbook.htm A recent late night discussion brought up the fact that most of the bike laws in Wisconsin changed in the mid 1990s, thanks to BFW and others. So changing the driver's test or manual doesn't do much for everyone who was licensed prior to about 1996. Those people don't know what the law even is...never mind whether or not they follow it. The same applies for drivers who come in from out of state and never have to take the exam. I think that is why Larry's handout for mailings (in registration and license renewals) is a good addition. Personally, I'd like to see better coverage in driver's ed (public and private) of bike/ped issues...or pre-driver's ed "bicycle driving" training in public schools. It is the kind of thing that can easily be rolled into a Safe Routes to School package, but it has to be institutionalized for long-term success. Texas has done great work training its teachers for this stuff. If that kind of thing was part of PE or other curricula, the next generation of drivers would be much better, I think. -Dar --------------------------------- Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell.
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