"MA weighs change to bike laws"

[numbskull]

Interesting read. How much comes to pass remains to be seen.
http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20160102/NEWS/160109919/101015

[shovelhd]

Richard is good people. I wish I had Wednesday afternoon free, I'd be there to testify for a three foot law. They don't do much good in reality but they do increase awareness and adds the possibility of a criminal charge of hit.

[jr59]

Interesting read. How much comes to pass remains to be seen.
http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20160102/NEWS/160109919/101015

The problem is always going to be enforcement, that and getting LEO educated to enforce the law.

Edit; Add judges to sentence according to the law, and ADs to charge according to the law.

[OtayBW]

The problem is always going to be enforcement, that and getting LEO educated to enforce the law.

Edit; Add judges to sentence according to the law, and ADs to charge according to the law.
Agree. The 3-ft law and others (such as e.g., the proposed 'Rolling Coal' laws) are about as useless as teats on a boar hog without enforcement and education among both LEO and the motoring public (DOTs, DMVs, etc.). I have yet to see any kind of enforcement in any place where I've lived....:(

[shovelhd]

So let's just sit back and do nothing.

[fuzzalow]

No the 3-foot law is good even if it might be thought of as feckless or ineffectual. It is one further step in codifying and formalizing protections that have a basis in statute as grounds instead of the ambiguity of general safety provisions in the law.

Rome wasn't built in a day. The big picture is that the direction is forwards and as long as it is that way forwards, we go.

[malcolm]

So let's just sit back and do nothing.

I agree you have to start somewhere.
Our society in the most part is built around the automobile and that is what the majority has know as acceptable transportation from cradle to grave.

I suspect the larger cities like Boston have it better than the more anonymous middle sized cities. Here in Birmingham we are blessed with mostly year round weather and beautiful rolling hills and generally some nice blacktop, but usually no shoulder lots of blind rises and curves and aggressive, unaware and entitled drivers.

So anything that raises awareness is good and continual pressure will eventually bring about some change. It's gotten better here over the past 10 years as more people start riding.

[shovelhd]

I have direct experience testifying on Beacon Hill, as part of a parent's group looking for changes in insurance law. Lawmakers really do listen at the hearings. We got the law passed, and thousands of children in Massachusetts have benefitted from it.

You can choose to be the crab in the pot pulling the others down, or you can be the one giving someone else a boost out. Your choice.

[AJM100]

Problem with Mass is it is reactionary - getting attention due to high profile Dr.'s death in 2015. Similar to the death penalty debate that occurred in reaction to 10 yo Jeff Curley's murder in 1997. Legislation gained momentum, then died.


Progress will be a slow process in the Commonwealth (especially considering retrofitting trucks involves interstate commerce issues and fed jurisdiction) IMHO - after all look at how long it is taking to get medical marijuana and dispensaries going and the casino licensing . . .

Hope that is not the case here as the "Hub" can be very dangerous for cyclists.

[jr59]

So let's just sit back and do nothing.

I have direct experience testifying on Beacon Hill, as part of a parent's group looking for changes in insurance law. Lawmakers really do listen at the hearings. We got the law passed, and thousands of children in Massachusetts have benefitted from it.

You can choose to be the crab in the pot pulling the others down, or you can be the one giving someone else a boost out. Your choice.

No where in this thread has do nothing been said or implied. But the fact remains that all the laws in the world can be passed for all the good in the world.

They all mean nothing if not properly applied!

[Red Tornado]

Agree. The 3-ft law and others (such as e.g., the proposed 'Rolling Coal' laws) are about as useless as teats on a boar hog without enforcement and education among both LEO and the motoring public (DOTs, DMVs, etc.). I have yet to see any kind of enforcement in any place where I've lived....:(
Glad to see new/revised laws on the books. If nothing else it is a good start & sets a foundation to build on in the future. So I'm all for it.
That said, I will +1 your comment about enforcement. Where I live the bike lanes in town are not respected at all, rednecks doing fly-by's in their diesel pickups is common place and the handful of car/bike accidents have resulted in major life disruptions for the cyclist but only the proverbial "slap on the wrist" to the at-fault drivers, if that even. Bike laws, like other laws, are only as good as the extent to which they are enforced. That responsibility is on local law enforcement & legal systems. But you have to have to laws first so there will be something to enforce.

[rwsaunders]

We have a 4 foot law here in PA but when tools like this cruise in the bike lane, it doesn't mean much.

[pbarry]

There was a noticeable change in drivers behavior when the three foot law passed in Colorado. Things have slid backward a bit because PSAs regarding this are few and far between. Awareness trumps enforcement with 3 ft. laws, except when there is a serious injury or fatality.

[OtayBW]

So let's just sit back and do nothing.
Huh? You take quite a leap in your interpretation of what was said. To reiterate, we need and are actively involved around here with promoting enforcement and education at the state and local level to help facilitate laws which otherwise have no teeth to become more viable. :rolleyes:

[Tony T]

A local bike club in my area donated "3 Ft Law signs" to the Local PD that they then posed on a lot of the local roads.