3 Feet For Safety Law Going Effective Sept 2014
On September 16, 2014 California's new 3 Feet For Safety Law will go into effect. The new law requires that drivers traveling the same direction as bicyclists give them 3 feet of space when passing. If this is not possible, then drivers must slow and pass only when they will not endanger cyclists while doing so.
The 3 Feet For Safety Act was signed last year in order to make the roads safer for bicyclists in California. The Southern California weather makes biking popular for both transportation and recreation. In 2012 there were 153 deaths of cyclists sharing the road with automobiles, this is a strong effort to prevent these deaths.
Critics say that it's just too hard to enforce and that compliance or non-compliance will be just a judgment call on the part of law enforcement. That might be true, but hopefully the law will force drivers to consider the safety of the bicyclists they happen upon, and drive more carefully. The complete text/rules of 3 Feet For Safety Law can be read on the DMV website, here.
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