"3 Feet Please" Campaign

[RABikes2]

"3 Feet Please" Campaign
http://www.3feetplease.com/Home_Page.html

Joe Mizereck is a good buddy here in Tallahassee and I offered to introduce his idea and website to Serottaland. The "3 Feet Please" Campaign jersey is available online directly from the website and will also be available for purchase at Sunshine Cycles in Tallahassee, FL. http://bikesunshine.net

Thanks.
RA

[soulspinner]

Great idea. Yesterday a woman rode by me very close(right side of car into the wide shoulder). She was ancient, drove slowly and stayed to the right all the way down the road. Can we also get drivers tests annually for those over 80?( No offense, Ill be glad to take it when I get there).

[William]

I like it! :cool:



William

[Dekonick]

I like it as well - but how about some bibs, long sleeve options, and perhaps a shell?

I would buy long sleeve right now...

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . and will doubtless educate some drivers who simply are ignorant.

Unfortunately, though, it won't do much for the other percentage. Those are the drivers who don't know and don't care--and there are way too many of them. They are the ones who don't think we should be out there anyway, who think we have no equal right to the road, and who are temped to pass way too close on purpose to "teach those damn cyclists a lesson." They are the ones who will only be convinced by the officer following the group ride in an unmarked vehicle who pulls them over and tickets them after observing them coming way too close.

Without an active commitment from law enforcement to really enforce the law, campaigns like this won't really get the message across to the problem drivers who really need to have their behavior changed. That's the real problem--institutional bias in law enforcement towards cars and against cyclists. It doesn't do any real good to have the law if drivers can still come too close, hit the bike and injure or kill the cyclist, then claim "I didn't see him" to the investigating officer and get away with it. Without that change in the way the law is enforced, then it useless. It's just another feel good measure passed by legislators who then puff out their chests and claim to the public that they're doing something to solve the problem.

Sorry to sound so cynical, but that's my take on it.

BBD

[abqhudson]

Why is it OK for a bicycle on the path to pass me within inches - for no good reason - and then have the rider ask for everyone else to give him 3 feet???????

Just askin.

[johnnymossville]

Why is it OK for a bicycle on the path to pass me within inches - for no good reason - and then have the rider ask for everyone else to give him 3 feet???????

Just askin.


Another rider rubs against you going roughly the same speed is one thing, a much faster moving car's fender or mirror smacking your hip or elbow is another.

3ft is quite a bit of room, I'd be happy with 1ft personally, but there's alot of bad drivers out there with cellphones stuck to their ears.

That jersey is kinda goofy, but I bet it gets noticed, which is a good thing.

[RABikes2]

I sent Joe an email this morning w/ Dave's valid comment:

As it was stated on the forum, unless law enforcement enforces the 3' law, the drivers out there who complain we are a "problem" and shouldn't be on the road are not going to care about what the law is and stated on the jersey. It'll be the same excuse, "I didn't see them" and law enforcement usually sides with them.

Joe's response:

The jersey piece is only part of the puzzle...but a key part in getting the momentum moving forward. There will be billboards, print, radio, tv, etc added as we move forward. And yes, when we have the jerseys and can put them on the backs of cyclists we'll get some photo opps for the news and interviews.

Enforcement is going to be a challenge , but I plan to work on changing that mindset as well. All of that will come...we just need to build the base.

Thank you RA,
Joe

[dauwhe]

At PBP (in France), they were handing out bumper stickers encouraging 1.5 meters between bikes and cars. I think I brought one home; forgot to put it on my car.

Dave

[konstantkarma]

I used to fantasize about attaching a spring-loaded 3 ft long fiber glass tent pole to the chain stay of my bike. It would be mounted perpendicular to the top tube on the left side, painted day-glow orange and have a diamond tip on the end to scratch any car that got too close. I know, it is a bad idea, but it was just a fantasy :D .

[dauwhe]

I used to fantasize about attaching a spring-loaded 3 ft long fiber glass tent pole to the chain stay of my bike. It would be mounted perpendicular to the top tube on the left side, painted day-glow orange and have a diamond tip on the end to scratch any car that got too close. I know, it is a bad idea, but it was just a fantasy :D .

I know a guy that has one. He would use it during brevets, making his fellow riders very nervous. Not a good thing to have in a paceline!

Dave

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . because it seems to be predicated on the notion that drivers can tell how far they really are from something they are passing. Riding along myself on my bike on a normal half-width shoulder, three feet to me seems to be even less than the amount of room given to me by a car that doesn't even move over in his own lane. That's pretty close. On many trucks, any mirror that's on an extender to see around a towed trailer or past the back of a large RV sticks out at least two feet itself by itself anyway. But I'd bet money that the huge majority of the drivers of those vehicles don't really subconsciously consider that mirror to be part of their vehicle when they're passing a cyclist on the road. Go out in your car and try to pass something on the shoulder while you're doing 45, 55, or more mph, then tell me whether the tip of your mirror was at least three feet away. I bet you can't do it.

All this law is telling drivers is that they can just keep driving straight down the center of their lane without making any effort to pull left in their own lane because that's what many people are going to consider to be 3 feet. What the law should really say is that drivers are required to move a far left in their lane as is prudent under the circumstances to give clearance to cyclists. It should also specifically give drivers permission to move partially over a double yellow line where there's obviously no oncoming traffic for the few seconds it takes to give a cyclist more room as they pass.

And BTW, who exactly determined that 3 feet is enough room? Scientific road testing? Consumer Reports tests? Or was it just an arbitrary figure produced ex recto (pulled out of, well, you know . . . ) by some non-cycling legislative aide in the office of the first legislator in the first state to pass the law?

It's totally unenforceable anyway. The only way to say for certain that the passing vehicle didn't give the three foot distance is if the vehicle or some part of it actually hits the bike. And then what? The driver gets a traffic citation for breaking the law after he seriously injures or kills a cyclist? Or if it was a DUI driver that mowed down poor Fred on his new Felt or Cervelo, the driver gets that traffic ticket in addition to being hauled in for DUI?

Again, I'm sorry to sound so cynical about all of this. It's certainly not directed at this gentleman and his well-intentioned campaign. It's just that phony, hypocritical measures like this 3-foot law really punch my buttons. Laws like this don't really do anything to address and correct the real problem. They merely appear to, and my experience is that's exactly what the legislators who propose them intend them to do. They make everybody feel good like something's getting done when it's really not and it lets the politicians claim they're taking "strong legislative action" to solve the problem.

BBD

[RABikes2]

Dave,

I agree with what you are saying ... no argument here.

However, from Joe's idea and website, he's trying to do something about our problem instead of being a cyclist who complains and moans about it and does nothing. He is not a politician, he's a husband, dad, son, brother, friend, and cyclist who is fed up with the fact there is no education out there regarding cyclists and vehicles. He's trying to do something positive. Change has to start somewhere and that's what Joe is trying to accomplish. He is beginning with a jersey.

Creating new laws, dealing with the laws we now have that are unenforceable, more advertisement for folks to take notice of cyclists on the roads, law enforcement education, politicians/legislators who are cyclists and care, and hopefully to reach the drivers who don't care ... this will all eventually come (hopefully) ... but, it needs to start someplace.

His jersey is a beginning and it simply states a major point.

I understand what you are saying, but Joe's website and idea is about more.

RA

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . and kudos to him for doing what he is doing!

BBD

[RABikes2]

* Florida is one of 10 states to have a "3 foot law" protecting cyclists. The other states are: New Hampshire, Oregon, Illinois, Tennessee, Minnesota, Utah, Wisconsin, Arizona and Maine...other states aren't far behind.

Welcome Connecticut..3 foot law went into effect Oct. 1, 2008.

[bzbvh5]

* Florida is one of 10 states to have a "3 foot law" protecting cyclists. The other states are: New Hampshire, Oregon, Illinois, Tennessee, Minnesota, Utah, Wisconsin, Arizona and Maine...other states aren't far behind.

Welcome Connecticut..3 foot law went into effect Oct. 1, 2008.

I was told Okalhoma also has the 3 foot law. Texas does not. That law has been rejected by the Texas legislature.