New Illinois Bicycle 3 Feet Law

Raise the price of gas to $10 per gallon tomorrow and you'll have the road to yourself. 

I think the Florida law has had some positive effect, based on my personal experience, with most drivers trying to stay clear when passing.  Not to stereotype or sound too prejudicial, but it's my observation that the biggest threat still seems to come from guys in huge pickup trucks.  I've had my shoulder brushed a couple of times by their right-side mirrors - even when there was no on-coming traffic and they had plenty of room to go around me.  On narrow roads I'll frequently slow down so vehicles can pass me well before encountering on-coming traffic.

Another frequent threat comes from drivers who pass then cut sharply back to the right and almost clip me with their right rear fender.   I've had to hit the brakes hard or go off the road on more than one occasion to avoid getting hit.  I think part of it is that many drivers don't realize that I'm riding along at 20 mph, not 5 mph.

I thought it was ironic that the linked article has a picture with two cyclists riding side-by-side and taking up the entire lane - just the thing that ticks off a lot of drivers.  Although Florida has the three foot rule, the law also says that cyclists shouldn't knowingly impede traffic.   It works both ways ...

Mark

I also noticed that neither rider has on a helmet either.  Way to help us out with the picture!

In Virginia, there is a 2' rule.  I knew one guy that put a piece of flexible metal that stuck out 2' from his bike (attached to the rear wheel).  Let's just say that, according to him, there are many vehicles with long scrapes down the right side of their car.

I'm curious how that works out.  I'm sure that a cyclist could easily be at fault in an accident, but  I have read quite a few accounts about a dead or comatose cyclists, with the driver saying that the cyclist swerved in front of them.  I'm thinking that with a dead or unconscious guy lying there on the pavement, and only a driver and maybe his passenger as witnesses, you're going to get pretty much that exact account of the accident ten times out of ten.

Why stop at $10?  Make it $40/gallon for passenger vehicles but keep it regular price for commercial carriers.

Can you imagine what a great of a Sunday ride that would make????? 

I'm guessing that if a post like that was made by itself, it probably got moved to the 'Cup of Joe' forum if there was no tie-in to triathlon, sbr, or fitness/health.

what do you mean someone was "censored"?

This made me wonder about the Tennessee Bike Laws. Here's a website I found: http://kba.tripod.com/tncode.htm

Tennessee has the same 3' law.

(2) The operator of a motor vehicle, when overtaking and
        passing a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on the
        roadway, shall leave a safe distance between the motor
        vehicle and the bicycle of not less than three feet (3')
        and shall maintain the clearance until safely past the
        overtaken bicycle.

Here's another one:

(a) Every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway is granted all
    of the rights and is subject to all of the duties applicable
    to the driver of a vehicle by this chapter and chapter 10,

Good for Illinois.

We have the 1 metre law (almost the same as 3 feet). I use it when passing cars that are parked on the right so I don't get doored.