3 Feet Campaign

The Government has rejected calls for legislation to be enacted requiring motorists to leave at least three feet passing distance when overtaking cyclists despite a petition on the Prime Minister’s official website attracting 2,600 signatures in favour of such a move.

The cyclists’ organisation CTC has rejected calls to throw its weight behind a campaign to introduce a five-foot-to-pass rule in the UK, and says that its priority is to improve the levels of enforcement of existing traffic laws.

Joe Mizereck, whose website www.3feetplease.com has been one of the driving forces behind getting a three-foot minimum distance passed into law in 14 states in the US, has thrown his weight behind UK cyclists campaigning for Britain to adopt the more generous minimum passing distance of 1.5 metres which applies in a number of other EU states.

Since road.cc first reported on Tom Amos’s petition on Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s official site, the number of signatories has almost doubled from 785 to more than 1,500, but the petition has also sparked a lively debate within the cycling community about whether three feet is actually enough.

Since our story on Tom Amos’ petition for the 3 feet to pass law in the UK, it now has 1075 signatures. But it has caused more than a stir with road.cc readers – and some say they can’t support it because the distance ISN’T great enough.

The story has produced a number of interesting comments and, while everyone is in agreement that cyclists should be given more room by passing motorists, most think that three feet is nowhere near enough, as well as being weaker than the current Highway Code, and any law would be tough to enforce.

Cars flying past at ridiculous speeds and inconsiderate distances is a common experience for today’s road cyclists. Most learn to deal with such drivers, but all too often an actual encounter between car and bike can end in serious injury or death.

Which is why a petition for the Prime Minister to introduce legislation that all motorists must allow a minimum of 3 feet in distance between their vehicle and a cyclist that they drive past has gained 785 signatures to date.

Colorado is the latest US state to introduce a three-foot-to-pass bill giving cyclists a bigger piece of pavement and greater legal protection on the road as more and more riders take to the roads.

A Colorado law recently signed by Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter not only requires motorists to give riders at least a 3-foot-wide berth, it also makes it illegal to throw things at riders.

The vehicle that passes just inches from you, almost sucking you into its slipstream, is an everyday experience for today’s road cyclists.

You scream abuse, shake your fist or – if you’re brave and quick – confront the errant driver at the next set of traffic lights, but nine times out of ten the driver is either oblivious or gives as good as he gets. Rarely is an apology forthcoming.