New CABO Blog Post

[CABO]

New CABO Blog Post

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CABO letter to Governor, 3′ passing Posted: 20 Sep 2011 08:13 AM PDT September 18, 2011 The Honorable Edmund G. Brown, Jr. State Capitol, Suite 1173 Sacramento, CA 95814 Re: SB 910 (Lowenthal) – SUPPORT ? Dear Governor Brown: I am writing on behalf of the California Association of Bicycling Organizations to ask that you sign Senator Lowenthal’s Senate Bill 910 into law. With the enactment of SB 910 and with wider public recognition of what is safe and appropriate motor vehicle driver’s behavior in the presence of bicyclists, everyone can benefit. We expect that this clearer statement of appropriate passing distances by motorists of bicyclists, replacing the subjective guidance in existing law, will better inform people about unsafe passing and encourage more and safer bicycling – an appropriate goal toward providing a cleaner environment, safer traffic operations, and healthier Californians. We consider the 3′ passing bill, SB 910, as a good and appropriate step toward wider recognition and hopefully, acceptance that bicyclists have, per California Vehicle Code 21200, the same rights and same responsibilities for operation in traffic as drivers of motor vehicles. Our efforts toward this recognition has also been helped recently by Senator Kehoe’s significant support of a Statewide Bicycling Task Force; by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) Commissioner Joe Farrow for his leadership and Capitan Avery Browne’s involvement in reviewing our bicyclist training program materials; by Assemblymember Toni Atkins AB 345 encouraging the Department of Transportation to include representatives of alternative transportation – walking, bicycling and transit – as members of the California Traffic Control Devices Committee; and by Senior Law Enforcement Consultant Karen Lozito and the Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commissions’ agreement to expand POST training for traffic enforcement officers regarding lawful bicycling as of July 2011. Through our meetings with CHP trainers, we have confirmed that the bicycling advocates across the State who are using the League of American Bicyclist’s bicycling education programs are applying the same interpretation and understanding of the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists as the CHP trainers. We are hoping that the newly expanded training through POST will help make accurate information more readily available, accepted, and used by all traffic enforcement personnel in California – traffic officers, judges, and someday, juries. We will be making further efforts to encourage more and safer bicycling through our education and advocacy efforts; especially toward clarification of a Californian’s lawful rights, responsibilities, and best practices for bicycling on public roadways. Specifically we will be addressing California Vehicle Code 21202 – often summarized and widely misunderstood as requiring bicycling to occur only “out of the way” on the margins of public roadways, rather than properly sharing the right of way. We are ready and eager to address these and other issues when the legislature returns in 2012. Thanks in advance for your support, signing, and enactment of SB 910 toward a safer travel environment in California. Sincerely, Jim Baross, CABO President Cc: Commissioner Joe Farrow Senator Alan Lowenthal Senator Christine Kehoe Assemblymember Toni Atkins CABO Board Alan Wachtel, California Bicycle Advisory Committee Chair Penny Gray, Caltrans Bicycle Program Manager James Lombardo Sr, CABO Lobbyist

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[Trevor Bourget]

The three-foot minimum is NOT a clearer statement of appropriate passing distance. It isn't even a minimum. A clearer statement would explain what kind of motor vehicles need to leave a wider margin, and how speed differential interoperates with distance to create safety margin for bicycle operator. A clearer statement would explain that some people don't feel comfortable at all next to cars and may need an even wider margin in order to feel safe.

What's really missing from the law is any human element that reminds motorists that people without protective cages should be treasured more carefully. Motorists should act altogether differently when passing a pedestrian, motorcyclist, or bicyclist than when they zoom around each other. They should know that laying on the horn while zooming past with 1 foot to spare on purpose only sends one message: I am a failure at understanding what right of way and safe passing is all about.

The new law does NOT replace the subjective guidance! It augments the subjective guidance with an ADDITIONAL law under which the motorist might be cited. In this way it is like the speed limit vs basic speed law. We must not allow erosion of rules of the road to create bifurcation of behaviors. Treatment of cyclists can always be understood as a special case of how the law affects drivers of vehicles.

We do hope that with the passing of the law, some additional PSA would be created to explain what motorists should do when passing bicycle riders on our highways. It's too bad we can't remind people "slow down, go around" vis a vis double yellow centerlines. This over-used and overly-strict traffic control on two-lane roads is what killed previous version of this bill. I hope we can address the issue in the future.

-- trevor

p.s. Thanks for putting shoe into the door about 21202 and 21208. Deleting or neutering these laws should be the first mission of the CABO legislative agenda in the next decade.

Only reversing Prokop decision with updated government code could be considered anywhere near as important.

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[Cycleman]

I agree and have sent a personal reply to Jim Baross.

 

This is not a good law, does nothing, is watered down by the CHP, and only gives CHP a new law to be anti-bike as they are noted to be.

 

I believe this law should be defeated as it is stated.

 

The original law was great as stated.  The Senate sent it back to the Assembly three times for revision due to CHP pressure.  The Assembly caved each time and amended the law.  It now has no teeth.  It is a useless waste of a law and only backs up the CHP view that bicyclists do not belong on the road and have no rights.

 

It is worse to try to overturn a bad law, in the future, than it is to wait for a more bike friendly CA State Senate and bike friendly Governor who is not a pawn of the CHP.   Then pass a good law.

 

I am opposed to the shreds of this law that started out good and ended up bad via CHP pressure.

 

Thanks for listening. – Frank Neal, LCI #3386

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