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news
California cyclist sign (licensed CC BY-SA 2.0 on Flickr by Richard Masoner, Cyclelicious)New law in California means drivers must change lanes when overtaking cyclists
A new law in California will require drivers to change lanes where possible when overtaking cyclists, with the aim of minimising “conflict points and risk of near misses or crashes.”
Since 2014, motorists in the Golden Bear state have to allow at least three feet of space when passing someone on a bike.
But Sonoma County-based newspaper The Press Democrat reports that with effect from next Sunday 1 January, drivers will have to switch lanes while overtaking, whenever possible.
Timothy Weisberg of the California Office of Traffic Safety told the newspaper that the extra room would motorists have to give would increase the safety of people on bikes.
“When a road user does make a mistake, there is a wider safety buffer that could reduce the chance of a serious injury,” he explained.
Where it is not possible for drivers to change lanes, they will be required to slow down and to overtake the bike rider without putting them in danger.
As far as the existing rule is concerned, Weisberg admitted that “It may be challenging to judge from the driver’s perspective how far three feet is on the road.”
He said that drivers breaking the new law would have to pay fines and fees of at least $238, depending on which county the offence was committed in, rising to at least $982 should the cyclist be injured.
In 2020, there were 129 cyclist fatalities in California, with a further 925 riders sustaining serious injuries as a result of a road traffic collision, and while Eris Weaver of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition welcomed the new law as a “theoretical improvement,” she maintained that enforcement would be key to its success.
Weaver, the executive director of the campaign group, said that without proper enforcement, “How likely is it [the new law] to change driver behaviour?”
“Just (Thursday) morning on my way to work, I was passed too closely on Mendocino Avenue even though there was an existing empty lane which the driver could have used,” she added.
The bill relating to the change in passing distance that drivers have to give cyclists was signed into law in September by the Governor Gavin Newsom.
The Democrat politician has previously been criticised by active travel campaigners for vetoing proposals to decriminalise jaywalking and to allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs, known as the “Idaho stop” after it became the first state to allow that, in 1982.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Weaver, the executive director of the campaign group, said that without proper enforcement, “How likely is it [the new law] to change driver behaviour?”
“Just (Thursday) morning on my way to work, I was passed too closely on Mendocino Avenue even though there was an existing empty lane which the driver could have used,” she added.
They need to follow the CUK and HWC 2022 best practice of road danger Avoidance. Specifically providing a visual aid to the spacially challenged so they know what 1.5m looks like using some plastic pipe attached to the seat tube with tape. Simple and cheap with correct lane positioning to show the lane is already full so that another lane is needed to make an overtake.
You can add gadgets to taste: Garmin Varia Radar, and/or Rear facing Camera but some pipe and tape are cheap and effective..
Go Jets!
An excellent suggestion and one that I have considered but have not acted upon for a few reasons.
One is filtering which I find very useful in heavy traffic. I imagine that would be impossible with a tube fitted. Another is the fact that I'm not really bothered about cars being closer than 1.5m in certain circumstances. I think my attitude is summed by the following extract from the article :
"Where it is not possible for drivers to change lanes, they will be required to slow down and to overtake the bike rider without putting them in danger."
This is what the revised highway code should have said in my opinion.
You are correct. I don't ride in metropolitan roads where filtering between other vehicles is useful or appropriate, and am willing to accept that I can't filter for the benefit of Avoidance.
Of course there is a simple engineering solution using a 90° hinge to put the pipe behind the rider as there's no height constraint...
I must admit I'd never heard California called the Golden Bear State before; intrigued, I did a little research and found the golden bear refers to the Califonia grizzly which was made the official state animal in 1953 despite the fact that it was made extinct with the last one being shot in 1923. Which as ironies go is a pretty grizzly-sized, and indeed grisly, one.
TBH I just thought it was known as "The Golden State", there's a basketball team in the NBA called "Golden State Warriors"; the state flag does have a bear on it however.
"Another one of those tomorrow. Now it's time for a thick slice of Thin Lizzie."
"And here's Judy Tzuke to take us up to the news."
As above, usually referred to as the Golden state - hence "Golden gate bridge" - but the state flag has the bear on it and searching for "California cycling jersey" shows lots of jerseys with the bear on...
https://www.google.com/search?q=California+cycling+jersey&client=ms-andr...
(But not the design that I have - https://photos.app.goo.gl/LRfsF5qLkmFCudB5A)
Anyway, I feel that this law is a step in the right direction, as "change lane" is less ambiguous than a specific distance, as most people would struggle to judge what 1.5 metres looks like (although "whenever possible" does leave people with a get out clause)
Just to add a whole extra level of pedantry and boredom to the start of the year, the Golden Gate bridge isn't called that as it's a gate into the Golden State but because it spans the Golden Gate strait, so named by a US senator because it was "a golden gate to trade with the Orient."
California's nickname originated in 1895 during California's dominant track and field team's tour of Midwest and Eastern universities. A blue silk banner with the golden grizzly bear, the state symbol, was displayed by the team during that tour. Since then, Cal's athletic teams have been known as the Golden Bears.
"He said that drivers breaking the new law would have to pay fines and fees of at least $238, depending on which county the offence was committed in, rising to at least $982 should the cyclist be injured."
If the drivers there are anything like the UK, that should provide enough to finance the next moonshot.
It remains to be seen how effective this law will be, but perhaps we should have something similar in the UK, rather than wooly guidance about overtaking a cyclist with your killing machine.
EDIT: Sorry, almost forgot: Happy New Year.
perhaps we should have something similar in the UK
The UK police 'interpretation' (and, after all, it's the police not Parliament or the courts which effectively make traffic law here, due to A Radical Selective Enforcement) would undoubtedly be that it was not possible for the hard-working motorist to move into the opposing lane because of oncoming traffic