Planning for next year, Making the Roads Safer For Bicyclists

[daniweberdvm]

These are some of the road races I'll be committed to this coming year. I alo know I'll be doing sport mountain bike racing at Sea Otter on Sunday, April 15 and I registered to do the olympic distance for Wildflower. I probably won't do any races until March except for 5 or 10ks

Comments

AB60 better than the earlier AB 1941?

[jymdyer]

=v= This new AB 60 is a reprise of AB 1941, which died in committee earlier this year. Assemblymember Pedro Nava has been behind both bills. There was some concern about the language in the older bill, and I'm interested in comparing it with the newer bill. The text of the older bill has disappeared from the State's website, though.

One troubling aspect of the wrangling over AB 1941 is that some politicos pulled the "if you get something, you have to give something up" game. One version of the bill had rules enforcing single-file riding and language to make bicyclists at fault for such things as not being in a bike lane. That sort of thing is unconscionable when a bill is about saving lives. Thankfully, we didn't stand for it then, and we must not stand for it now.

The 3-foot minimum is codified in some states already,so it's not a bad place to start. Personally, I think the minimum should increase with speed.

Re: AB60 better than the earlier AB 1941?

[daniweberdvm]

Thanks, Jym, for your comments. I agree we can't make any Faustian bargains.

I also agree that the minimum distance should increase with increasing speeds. A study which I will have to find the link to showed that at 85 mph , a big rig truck could suck a cyclist under its wheels when the cyclist was within 8 feet of the truck.

In my own experience on a century ride in Santa Cruz this year, an oversized RV passed me at a high rate of speed about 2-3 feet away and it caused my bike to wobble and sway pretty badly.