Dave,
Yes, cars must give a minimum of 3 feet when trying to pass from behind under all circumstances. After reviewing many crash reports involving cyclists, my opinion is that when there is a car vs. bicycle crash, it is not unusual for the police to not cite the driver of a car even when the driver is clearly at fault. I have seen many clear violations of law noted in the report (under contributing factors) but a warning instead of a citation for a driver, or nothing at all. This includes dogs on the road with no leash, cars turning left in front of cyclists, cars turning right into a cyclist….. I still have not figured out why I get a ticket/fine for parking in a spot for more than 2 hours, but when someone causes permanent injuries to a person by violating a law, they get a warning. [Long story short, the law says cars have to give you 3 feet, but if you get hit from behind, the driver will likely tell police you swerved in front of him, and the police will probably give a warning or blame you. Also, cars are allowed to cross a yellow line to pass cyclists in order to give them at least three feet. From personal experience, I have noticed many drivers forget, or not realize they can slow to a speed slower than a cyclist if there is oncoming traffic. For example, when there is oncoming, drivers pass very close to me at a high rate of speed and use the oncoming traffic as an excuse rather than just slowing and waiting until it is clear. Maybe they are afraid of getting rear ended or they don’t know they can cross the center line? When driving a car, I often try to slow to just over the cyclist’s speed before passing just to force drivers behind me to slow because I know a lot of them won’t move over. As a cyclist, I get less scared by a driver passing near me at a slow rate of speed than I do by someone a few feet over (or even three feet over) at 55+ mph-especially things like-semi trucks or dump trucks. I am not here to bash police. I just want to share my experiences that lead me to conclude “laws” don’t protect us as much as we think they do because: 1. Drivers may not know of them; 2. Police may not know of them; 3. Drivers may not follow them; 4. Police may not enforce them. Clay From: Bikies [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dave Minden Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 2:45 PM To: Margie Franzen <[email protected]>; William Hauda <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Bikies] biking the wrong way on Fish Hatchery What's up with the 3-foot passing law? Aren't cars bound by this, even when the lane lines are closer together, i.e., don't they have to swing around to keep the 3-foot margin? Dave On Tuesday, August 11, 2015 2:37 PM, Margie Franzen < <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]> wrote: As someone who bikes in the right direction (with traffic) for work on Fish Hatchery and as someone who was very nearly killed by an left-turning city truck at the new intersection with FH by the new UW clinic: yes, please, please get a designated path. A white stripe doesn't protect against the dump trucks, the semis, the busses....all passing barely a foot from my left shoulder. Many thanks, Margie Franzen On Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 11:56 AM, William Hauda < <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]> wrote: Crossing Fish Hatchery Road from Cannonball to get on the northbound bike lane is risky and time consuming, especially in rush hour traffic. The simplest, safest, and most cost-effective solution is to have a path that parallels Fish Hatchery Road adjacent to the Arboretum property and connecting to the Wingra path. I don't know the Fish Hatchery Road easement width, who owns what, what the cost of a bike bridge over Wingra Creek would be, but this would certainly be less expensive than building a new bridge over Fish Hatchery Road and constructing the tail on the other side. On 8/7/2015 11:35 AM, Ian Alderman wrote: Yes, this is along the Arboretum. On Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 11:32 AM, Robbie Webber < <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]> wrote: It could also be that one or more people need to travel a short distance to a destination on Fish Hatch on the same side of the road, and they don't want to try to try to cross peak hour traffic twice to reach their destination. Is it the area next to the Arboretum where there is no sidewalk? Robbie Webber Transportation Policy Analyst 608-263-9984 (o) 608-225-0002 (c) <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] All opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer or any other group with which I am affiliated. On Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 10:39 AM, Ian Alderman < <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]> wrote: I've seen this three days in a row now, during my morning (car) commute: Darwin award candidate bikers biking North on Fish Hatchery facing MV traffic going Southbound. I think this is because of the gap between the Cannonball Trail and destinations to the North. I expect this will go on until this gap is filled. _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] <http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] <http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] <http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
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