Georgia House Bill 180 was passed recently, and the Tweets followed. Everyone is thrilled that the safe passing distance between motorists and cyclists is now defined as three feet. The "Three Foot Law" is now the law of the land in Georgia, and now the risks of "buzzing" are avoided, because the law has passed.
This is a really, really good thing, but there are two issues with this that need to be addressed - namely, education, and enforcement. If the general public isn't aware of this, and law enforcement doesn't enforce it, then the bill is just a waste of time. On reading the actual bill, named the ""Tony Serrano Three Feet Safe Passing Act", the minimum safe distance, at a minimum, is defined as three feet. This is good , and long overdue. Georgia is actually ahead of most of the country, as only 15 other states have passed a 3 foot law.
However, there is no mention of a penalty yet in the Georgia Legal Code. A search through LEXIS shows that there is still no update to the General Code that defines the penalty for violating the law. So, then it's up to law enforcement, and the court system, as to what that would be. We would have been happier, had mention been made of what degree misdemeanor, and penalty, would have been applied when a car was observed "buzzing" a cyclist.
Because let's face it, this eventually happens to you when you ride every day. 99% of the people out there on the road are decent enough, and really do try to give you room. I would much rather ride here in Atlanta then when I did in Boston years ago, where aggression in a motor vehicle is an art form. Yet, there is still that 1% of intellectually challenged driver that, for one reason or another, just doesn't want to give you any room. It's especially unnerving at night when a car passes by you close enough to feel a breeze on your calf as they go by.
We would like to see a campaign consisting of ads in the paper, commercials on radio and TV, and billboards proclaiming "Give Cyclists Three Feet - It's the Law". And fixing a minimum penalty for violating it. There is always the escalation to careless, and then reckless driving charges, and attempted murder for the few psychos that deliberately try to hit you or run you off of the road.
The one sure way to get the Soccer mom and NASCAR dad trying to text and surf the web on their iPhones while they are trying to navigate their "boat on wheels", knowing that passing to close to a cyclist would make them, say, $300 lighter in the wallet, would be big inducement to giving us some room.
So how is it all working out a month later? Well, it's still a "work in progress". I rode down to pick up lunch for the shop today on my SURLY Steamroller fixie. A grey sedan rode up next to me. I reached over the 8 inches, banged on the car door, pointed, yelled through the open window, and told the driver, "Three Foot Minimum, it's the law, honey!".
Yup. In this case, it's "Changing the world, one driver at a time."
Ride safe, everybody.
