Re: A point or two about bike facilities [Archive]

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Jens Müller[_3_]

May 26th 10, 10:01 PM

Am 24.05.2010 16:40, schrieb Opus:
> This law was enacted to give prosecutors a tool that they can use to
> prosecute people that hit cyclists from behind. If you hit a cyclist
> from behind you have obviously not passed with 3 feet of clearance and
> were in fact 3 feet or more too close

So before, hitting cyclists from behind was legal?

His Highness the TibetanMonkey, ComandanteBanana and Chief of Quixotic Enterprises[_2_]

May 26th 10, 10:07 PM

On May 26, 5:01*pm, Jens Müller > wrote:
> Am 24.05.2010 16:40, schrieb Opus:
>
> > This law was enacted to give prosecutors a tool that they can use to
> > prosecute people that hit cyclists from behind. If you hit a cyclist
> > from behind you have obviously not passed with 3 feet of clearance and
> > were in fact 3 feet or more too close
>
> So before, hitting cyclists from behind was legal?

I guess you'd have to prove that the car hit you, so the burden of
proof would be on you.

I don't think the 3' law changes that and puts the burden of proof on
the driver.

His Highness the TibetanMonkey, ComandanteBanana and Chief of Quixotic Enterprises[_2_]

May 26th 10, 10:44 PM

On May 26, 5:01*pm, Jens Müller > wrote:
> Am 24.05.2010 16:40, schrieb Opus:
>
> > This law was enacted to give prosecutors a tool that they can use to
> > prosecute people that hit cyclists from behind. If you hit a cyclist
> > from behind you have obviously not passed with 3 feet of clearance and
> > were in fact 3 feet or more too close
>
> So before, hitting cyclists from behind was legal?

3 FEET AND NOTHING IS THE SAME THING. The car must partially exit the
lane to give you clearance, but other cars are behind him honking the
horn. Guess WHO gives? Yeah, YOU, the weakest link in the chain.

This is NOT a step in the right direction; this is diverting the
attention from the issue that we are squeezed on the road with casual
disregard or criminal intent...

http://www.3feetplease.com/

His Highness the TibetanMonkey, ComandanteBanana and Chief of Quixotic Enterprises[_2_]

May 26th 10, 11:17 PM

Nice & simple: If it doesn't work in "civilized" Canada, it sure won't
work in the American jungle...

A three-foot passing law alone will not be enough to protect Ontario's
cyclists from bad drivers.

You just have to look to Louisiana, one of the 15 U.S. states with
such a passing law. On Saturday, Michael Bitton, 34, a former Listowel
resident who is going to school at Louisiana State University, and is
a member of the university cycling team, was out for a training ride
when he was struck from behind. He's now in an induced coma in
hospital, according to news reports from Louisiana, and "fighting for
his life."

***

***North America is eventually going to figure out that, for all the
right reasons, we need more bicycles on our roads. Dust off your
bicycle and go cycling. And if the gas-burning dinosaurs start to
crowd you, it's your road and you paid for it. Take the lane for
yourself.***

http://therecord.blogs.com/take_the_lane/2010/05/threefoot-passing-laws-need-education-programs-to-succeed-.html

Rod Speed

May 27th 10, 03:36 AM

Jens Müller wrote
> Am wrote

>> This law was enacted to give prosecutors a tool that they can use to prosecute people that hit cyclists from behind.
>> If you hit a cyclist
>> from behind you have obviously not passed with 3 feet of clearance
>> and were in fact 3 feet or more too close

> So before, hitting cyclists from behind was legal?

Nope, it was just harder to prove that contact with the bike wasnt inadvertent.

Now all they have to do is prove that that clearance distance was not ensured.