New California law requires drivers passing cyclists to give 3 feet of clearance

Re:New California law requires drivers passing cyclists to g... by mahyarm on Tuesday September 16, 2014 @04:47PM (#8327021)

I wasn't talking about buzzing a bicyclist, but in this normal usage with both vehicles in the middle of their lanes:

  ||-(car)-|-(car)-|-(bike)-|||

The car will be forced to slow down to 10mph, because the distance between them will be around 3 feet. Bikes will become traffic blockers as a result, or this will be another badly designed ignored law designed to create pull over excuses or collect revenue, increase driver resentment of bicyclists and the legal system.

I say this as a person who uses bike lanes to commute to work, frequently. This is a badly designed law in this bike lane case.

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Re:New California law requires drivers passing cyclists to g... by wffurr on Tuesday September 30, 2014 @12:02PM (#8388950)

That is also correct. Cars should pass cyclists in bike lanes carefully. As carefully as they would if there were no bike lane. The paint changes nothing.

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Re:New California law requires drivers passing cyclists to g... by chrismcb on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @04:41AM (#8329094)

Average car lane is 12 feet wide (a bit narrower on less travelled roads) Average car is 6 feet wide. If your car is center you will be 3 feet from the edge of the bike lane. So what is the problem?

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Re:New California law requires drivers passing cyclists to g... by mahyarm on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @02:34PM (#8331580)

That is only on an interstate. On a surface street, it can be 9', and with 3' in a bike lane, that visually looks like 3'. And if you have a wider car, like an SUV or Truck, it's even less.

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