Missouri Bicycle News :: Anti-texting, 3-foot passing of bicycles bills introduced in Missouri legislature <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blogger.com/static/v1/common/js/82548021-csitaillib.js"></script> <script>if (typeof(window.attachCsiOnload) != 'undefined' && window.attachCsiOnload != null) { window.attachCsiOnload('ext_blogspot'); }</script>

With December 1st the earliest day to prefile bills for the 2010 legislative session, Missouri legislators have already introduced a couple of bills of interest to bicyclists and pedestrians.

Pass bicyclists with minimum three feet clearance
Rep. David Slater of Cassville has introduced a bill to require motorists to pass bicyclists with a minimum clearance of three feet. HB 1250 is a fairly simple change to the "safe passing of bicyclists" bill supported by MoBikeFed that passed in 2005:

The operator of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on the roadway, as defined in section 300.010, RSMo, shall leave a safe distance, when passing the bicycle pass safely at a distance of not less than three feet, and shall maintain clearance until safely past the overtaken bicycle.

Because it is a more definite and easily understood (minimum) standard, the three foot minimum passing distance helps in a civil or criminal case where bicyclists have been passed unsafely. When it comes to a court case, whether the motorist has left a "safe distance" is a matter judgement, whereas if a motorist hits a bicyclist, it is clear that the three foot distance has been broached as a matter of fact rather than as a matter of judgement.

See MoBikeFed's stand on this issue in our Legislative Platform.

Ban texting while driving
A law passed in the 2009 legislative session bans texting while driving for drivers under 21 years of age.

HB 1276, sponsored by Rep. Don Wells of Cabool, will ban all texting while driving (with some exceptions for police and emergency personnel, and emergency situations), no matter what the driver's age:

Except as otherwise provided in this section, no person ~~twenty-one years of age or younger~~ operating a moving motor vehicle upon the highways of this state shall, by means of a hand-held electronic wireless communications device, send, read, or write a text message or electronic message.

Banning texting while driving seems like a complete no-brainer, and it--along with other measures to reduce distracted driving--is supported by MoBikeFed's legislative platform.

Labels: 2009legislative

Comments: 3 comments on this article

Rachel wrote:

12/04/09 01:12pm • 173.26.236.86

I just want it known that we had our lights on, but Brent made us turn them off for the picture.

Good to see that my rain jacket is brighter than Fred's.

And oh yeah, awesome legislative agenda. Hope they pass this year! Baby steps!

acline wrote:

12/05/09 09:06am • 70.245.189.127

I think a 3-foot law is a bad idea. Once drivers know they must give you three feet, that is all you'll get. Cars will begin passing you closer. Do you trust drivers to make that calculation?

See my argument against this law on Carbon Trace: http://isocrates.us/bike/2009/12/i-want-more-than-three-feet/

Web link: http://isocrates.us/bike/

Tony S. wrote:

01/01/10 02:13am • 69.55.137.59

I am a novice cyclist slowly learning how to deal with proper lane positioning and those evil iron monsters breathing fire down (or up as the case may be) the wrong place. Having been in law enforcement I have also seen the result of a statute where too much gray area is, we might say, built in. There are often times too much is left up to the individual officers and prosecutorial discretion. A safe distance to one officer or prosecutor could mean the passenger side mirror did not hit the cyclist (possibly true even if only by a single millimeter) and no one crashed, therefore the motor vehicle passed at a safe distance from the cyclist. Yes, that would be absurd to a cyclist, but who knows how a person who has never been on two wheels might see it. Yet to another officer or prosecutor, a motor vehicle not yielding the entire lane might be violating the safe distance clause. A codified distance would, at a minimum, remove officer and prosecutorial discretion and offer a known parameter to use as a basis from which citations could be issued to a violating motorist. I would prefer statutory language positively establishing the cyclists� right to the whole lane but I suspect that would happen only after statutory recognition of avian swine.

Related:: News: MoBikeFed legislative update; News: MOBikeFed supported Bicycle Safety Bill scheduled for hearing in Missouri Senate; News: Levi Leipheimer's bicycle to visit Capitol for Bicycle Day Feb 26th; News: Columbia bicyclist harassment ordinance brings out the bicycle haters; News: Dead Red for bicycles and Safe Passing of Bicycles provisions pass Missouri Senate

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