3 foot passing law -- By the numbers!

Just a quick note before you dive into this RGJ Article. Math and angry back and forth comments aside. The point of this law is to make interaction between cyclists and vehicles safer. If either party is in doubt about how to work in a lane together or next to each other, they should both slow down and be considerate. This may mean the cyclists sometimes waits for a car to pass and sometimes means the driver of a vehicle should should slow down and wait a few moments until it's safe to pass the cyclist. Can't we just use some common sense and get along people!

p.s.  When he states the truth meter as 10....I think he means the numbers prove the roads aren't too narrow.  Slightly misleading give the title.

Fact Checker: Are some roads too narrow for new bike law?

Written by
Kelly Scott

 

The claim

Two vehicles and two bicycles can't fit on some roads because the law now requires that vehicles must stay 3 feet away from bicycles.

The background

When new laws kicked in Oct. 1, one of them was Senate Bill 328, which was known as the Vulnerable Highway Users Bill.  The new law aims to make the roadways safer for cyclists. Under the bill, motorists who are found to be at fault in a crash with a cyclist or pedestrian can be charged with reckless driving, which allows for harsher penalties than without such an option.  But in the matters of spatial relations, it creates a new rule.  Now, motorists have to keep at least 3 feet away from bicyclists. A yardstick away.

Here's the wording of the law:

"NRS 484B.270: It requires motorists traveling in the same direction as a bicyclist to move into the left lane if possible or leave at least 3 feet between the vehicle and the bicycle when passing."
Previously, the law said that motorists just had to pass bicyclists at a safe distance, but that proved to be too vague.

Law enforcement officers have said that they're eyeballing their distances and really are looking for motorists who violate the law by "brushing too close."

Roads are definitely made for more traffic than that just from vehicles.  But several roads seem too narrow to me for this to work, despite regularly seeing bicycles and cars on them.  Immediately, ones that come to mind are Mayberry Drive and Geiger Grade. Even my own neighborhood streets come to mind in Old Southwest.

"It's going to be imperative for motorists to use sound judgment," said Trooper Chuck Allen, Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman.

Law enforcement knows the big question is: What about narrow roads?

In theory, it should work, Allen said. Most travel lanes are 12 feet wide in Nevada, he said.  Let's do the math: Say a two-lane road has two 12-foot wide travel lanes. That means, it's 24 feet across, without any extra for a shoulder on the road or anything.


Say the average car is 6 feet wide (which several people seemed to think was about right on various websites that popped up when I Googled that question. Oddly, many others have wondered exactly what the average width of a vehicle is.). Then, in theory, it should work.

Here it is in math: Say a cyclist takes up 2 feet just for the biking, then there's the 3 feet for the new keep-away distance, then two cars take up 12 feet, then another 3 feet on the other side of the street for the new keep-away distance and then another two feet for the biking. That all adds up to 22 feet. That should work.

Now, if you put the example on a neighborhood street -- such as mine in Old Southwest, well, then you need to factor in parked cars. Cars park along the street, eating an additional 6 feet of space. But, to be honest, it would be tough for two cars traveling the opposite directions on such a street to pass each other in their respective lanes if there was a car was parked along the side of the street anyway. A bicyclist wouldn't make that any easier, but the 3 feet of keep-away distance probably wouldn't be the only thing that would make that passage difficult.

So what happens if you're in that spot and you're a motorist? 

Allen said motorists shouldn't pass if there's a double yellow line on the roadway, but they should safely navigate around the bicycle as soon as they can.  "Reduce your speed and navigate around the bicyclist," he said. "The key is to reduce your speed and give the bicycle the 3 feet. Be aware. If a car is coming at you, don't pass there."

On a roadway with multiple lanes, such as the McCarran Boulevard loop, motorists should move into the "fast" lane when they encounter a bicycle in their lane."  At the same time, bicyclists should try to stay as close to the side of the road as they can to give the motorists the room to pass.  Bicyclists need to follow all the same rules of the road that motorists do, he said.

The verdict

Yes, in theory, the restriction should still allow all the traffic to pass as intended as long as we all slow down and are cautious. The math does appear to add up.
Truth Meter: 10