Streetsblog San Francisco

This article is re-published with permission from the California Bicycle Coalition blog.

Update: Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed the 3-foot passing bill. His statement can be found here [PDF]. 

The California Bicycle Coalition has compiled evidence showing that 3-foot-passing laws haven’t had any negative impacts on traffic flows in other states that have enacted these laws, and that such laws are actually boosting bicycle ridership and changing driver behavior for the better.

CBC is responding to reports that the California Highway Patrol is conjuring up worst-case scenarios as part of its whispering campaign to persuade Gov. Jerry Brown to veto Senate Bill 910, the 3-foot-passing bill cosponsored by the CBC and the City of Los Angeles.

The CHP reportedly is telling Gov. Brown that SB 910 would cause an epidemic of rear-end collisions as drivers slam on their brakes when they realize they don’t have space to pass bicyclists by at least three feet. Yet the CHP hasn’t produced any evidence of such problems in any of the 20 states that have 3-foot-passing laws on the books.

Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, the nation’s oldest bicycling advocacy organization, wrote this week in a letter to Gov. Brown, “In our experience working with the 19 [sic] other states that have passed three-foot passing laws, we have heard of no increases in the number of motor vehicle crashes due to the new requirements or any increased burden on law enforcement. In contrast, we have received nothing but positive responses to these laws.”

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Bicycling superstar Lance Armstrong and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have joined forces again.  Their target: Governor Jerry Brown.  Their message: sign S.B. 910, the state’s three foot passing law that would protect cyclists from drivers who pass too close and too fast.

“Gov. Brown can help make our roads safer for everyone by making Senate Bill 910 the law in California,” said Armstrong, seven-time winner of the Tour de France, and the most famous bicyclist in the world.

“I’m thrilled that we have Lance Armstrong’s support on this issue,” added Villaraigosa. “His success is a big reason so many more Californians are interested in bicycling. It’s so important to have experts like him advocating for making California a more bike-friendly place.”

The Senate and Assembly both passed S.B. 910, authored by Long Beach Senator Alan Lowenthal, which would require motorists passing bicyclists to give at least a three foot cushion if the car’s speed is 15 miles per hour. Many Republicans opposed the measure, in large part due to the opposition of speeding traffic advocates, AAA and the California Highway Patrol. Last week, Streetsblog San Francisco reported that those same two groups are lobbying the Governor to veto this traffic safety measure.

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The California Bicycle Coalition is hearing that Governor Jerry Brown is getting pressure from the California Highway Patrol and AAA to veto SB 910, the safe passage bill for bicyclists. Known as the “Give Me 3″ bill, it would require drivers to give people on bikes at least 3 feet of space when passing from behind. It cleared both houses of the Legislature with overwhelming support, and is awaiting the governor’s signature.

From the CBC:

CHP and AAA are recommending that Gov. Brown veto SB 910, yet neither one has produced any evidence of problems from the 19 other states with these laws, including Wisconsin, which has 38 years’ experience under its 3-foot-passing law.

Most CA drivers try give bicyclists enough space, but they get no guidance from CA’s vague and subjective passing law.

Many CA drivers also willingly cross the double-yellow line to pass bicyclists on narrow two-lane roads, but why is it reasonable to ask them to break the law in order to do the right thing?

More bicyclists die from being hit from behind than from any other type of vehicle collision — it’s the single biggest cause of adult bicyclist deaths. Is this the status quo CHP and AAA want to preserve?

The CBC is encouraging Streetsblog readers to email Governor Brown’s office asap and tell him: sign SB 910 into law! You can download a sample letter and get more instructions here.

The California Bicycle Coalition’s bill to give drivers clearer guidance about how to pass bicyclists safely was approved this week by the Assembly Transportation Committee in a raucous hearing that reflected California’s deeply conflicted relationship to motor vehicles and driving.

Senate Bill 910, authored by Sen. Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach and co-sponsored by the City of Los Angeles, would amend the California Vehicle Code’s vague guidance for how drivers must pass bicyclists by requiring drivers to give bicyclists at least three feet of clearance when passing from behind. Three feet is the passing distance required in 19 other states and also recommended by the California Department of Motor Vehicles in the California Driver’s Handbook.

Existing state law requires drivers to pass other vehicles and bicyclists at a “safe distance” that is not further defined in law. Passing-from-behind collisions account for about 40 percent of all adult bicyclist fatalities, the leading cause of such deaths.

The committee approved SB 910 on an 8-to-5 party-line vote Monday after nearly an hour of debate in which unionized truckers and the state’s two automobile clubs and their allies on the committee argued that specifying a minimum passing distance might confuse and inconvenience drivers, tie up traffic and lead to more collisions.

The bill goes next to the Assembly Appropriations Committee even though SB 910 does not require or allocate any public funds or have any other fiscal consequences for state or local government.

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Last summer, a coalition of bicycle groups and the City of Los Angeles joined forces to create the “Give Me 3″ public service announcement campaign to encourage drivers to give cyclists a larger berth when passing. Less than a year later, the California Bike Coalition (CBC) has launched its own “Give Me 3″ website and campaign to build support for Senator Alan Lowenthal’s (D-Long Beach) Senate Bill 910. S.B. 910 would create a state 3 foot passing law for California. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa remains personally committed to enshrining a passing law in the California Vehicle Code.

When Streetsblog first discussed SB 910 back in February, the legislation was still in nascent form. However, May has proven to be a defining month for the legislation. On May 3, the Senate Transportation Committee held a hearing on the bill and moved the amended legislation on a party-line 6-3 vote. Opposition to the legislation comes not only from Republican Senators but also the American Automobile Association, and the Southern California Auto Club, both of whom have a history of opposing legislation that would slow or calm traffic.

When similar legislation was proposed five years ago, municipalities and the California Highway Patrol were also in opposition, but they have avoided taking a position on this bill.

However, one bicycling group is also opposing S.B. 910, the California Association of Bicycle Associations. CABO is worried the bill is unenforceable and ambiguous. I’m not certain how S.B. 910, which sets firm passing guidelines, could be any more ambiguous than current law which requires passing at “a safe distance.” Read more…

A bill introduced last month by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), who has been a steady advocate for reducing the dangers of distracted driving, would increase first-time and repeat fines for drivers who text while driving or who don’t use hands-free devices, and would extend the prohibition of cell phone use to cyclists. This last move has cycling advocates baffled and on the defensive.

State Senate Bill 1475 would amend the California Vehicle Code so that, “a person shall not ride a bicycle or drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while riding or driving.” The bill would increase the base fine for illegal use of a cell phone while driving or riding a bicycle from $20 to $50 for the first offense, and increase the fine from $50 to $100 for each subsequent offense.

"This was something that was an oversight from the initial enactment from 2006, which took effect in 2008," Simitian explained in an interview with Streetsblog. He said he waited a year after the law took effect to make changes, which include the increased fines, adding a point to a driver's record for the infraction, and using a portion of the fine to create an education fund for the dangers of distracted driving. Simitian also said the motivation for adding cyclists to the bill did not come from a dramatic incident nor a trend of increased cycling collisions due to cell phone use.

"Common sense tells us it’s not a safe habit, given all the risks that cyclists have to contend with," said Simitian.

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