On Aug 21, 7:04*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:
I've wondered whether cyclists really need a law that requires cars to pass
us no closer than 3 feet. I generally don't have too many issues out on the
road, and it would seem that common sense and courtesy go a long way towards
making the world a reasonable place to drive and bike.

Until today.

I didn't even really know what happened until I played it back in mind mind
immediately afterward. Karl, Kevin and I were on the return leg of our usual
Tuesday/Thursday morning ride, heading north on 84 in Woodside, approaching
Tripp Road. We were not only single file, but single file on the very edge
of the road... I mean riding in tight formation, with maybe just a couple
inches (really) of pavement to the right of our wheels. If there was a "good
citizen" award for cyclists sharing the road, we would have gotten it. No
reason for us to impede cars if we don't have to (the shoulder's in pretty
good shape there, and being the first day of school for many, there was more
traffic than usual).

And then the black SUV went past us.

It didn't blast its horn. It didn't swerve. It simply didn't deviate from
its course. And it passed each of us by maybe, what, 6 inches? Could have
even been a bit less. It was RIGHT THERE.

If one of us had had to swerve for an obstacle, it would have been game
over. If the car had had to move over just a little bit to let a wide car
pass in the other direction, game over. If one of us had chosen that exact
time to look back and check traffic, and moved out into the road just a
little bit (as often happens when you look back), it might have been game
over.

As it was, there was this immediate sense of marvel at the precision with
which the car passed us, the three of us riding perfectly straight, with the
car just inches away from our left hands. It was an almost unbelievable
experience. But within seconds that amazement was replaced with one of those
"What just happened?" feelings, and the more I play it back in my mind, the
more upset and annoyed I become.

That car should not have passed us in that manner, which means it should
have waited until it was clear in the other direction so it could give us a
bit more room, instead of assuming that "Share the road" means making
assumptions of a perfect world at 24 miles per hour.

So I'm changing my tune, and not just asking for a 3 foot passing law for
cyclists, but demanding it. A relatively-narrow two-lane road (like 84 near
Tripp, specifically right near the "singing gas pipes" on the west side of
the road) is no place for 3 bikes & two cars to share the same strip of
road. The car should have waited until it could pass us with reasonable
clearance, and there obviously needs to be a law defining what "reasonable
clearance" is because I doubt that particular driver thought he or she was
doing something reckless.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

If I had to guess, I'd say you were doubly lucky because IME: no horn
blast + no deviation in steering = unconscious driver. A 3 foot
clearance while passing cyclists law won't affect drivers that are
simply zoned out at the wheel. Such a law certainly couldn't *hurt*
though. Glad your close call was just that- close.

Regards,
Bob Hunt