Gene Bisbee’s been covering stories about the 3 foot passing law as it appears in a number of states. The law proposes that a safe pass requires at least 3 feet between the vehicle and the cyclist. We’ve all felt what it is like to feel the presence of steel and glass just off our left shoulders. Washington State is considering such a law now. Will it make the roads any safer tomorrow than today? Probably not any more than the Anne Weatherill law about passing a vehicle when a cyclist is visible. Motorists will continue to pass and cyclists will continue to be buzzed.
So are we for it or not? Of course we are. Sure legal penalities applied after we are killed by a buzzing car won’t bring us back to life but more code that supports the principal that Bicycles Belong reinforce the Share the Road mentality we all need to develop, even cyclists.–Corrie
3-foot hearing in Washington state; stalled in Iowa and Ohio
A bill that would require motorists in Washington state to give bicyclists and pedestrians a 3-foot margin when they pass is scheduled for a hearing in Olympia on Wednesday.
The bill, entitled HB1491, passed the House on March 6. The schedule warns that the 1:30 p.m. hearing in the Senate Committee on Transportation is subject to change.
Meanwhile, efforts in at least two other states have reached dead ends.
Corrie maintains the 
In The Spin 