The transportation committee hearing for HB 1250 is today in Jefferson City. I was unable to change my schedule, so I won’t be testifying. I did, however, send Rep. Sara Lampe my thoughts on the bill, including links to everything I’ve written so far on Carbon Trace.
Click here for my reasons for opposing this bill.
I am a member of the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation Legislative Committee. Our listserv and been full of chatter the past few days about HB 1250. I am not at liberty to quote by name or otherwise report specifics of that conversation. But I can give you a general sense of things.
The sponsoring legislator is Rep. David Sater, a Republican from Cassville.
The consensus on the MoBikeFed committee appears to be that 4 or 5 feet would better than 3 feet, but that 3 feet is better than nothing. And that is where I disagree. I think 3 feet is worse than the current law, which says:
300.411. The operator of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on the roadway, as defined in section 300.010, shall leave a safe distance when passing the bicycle, and shall maintain clearance until safely past the overtaken bicycle.
My experience on the road demonstrates that, with proper lane positioning, the majority of cars pass with far more than 3 feet of clearance — usually pulling into the opposite lane to do so. This behavior fits what the Missouri Driver Guide suggests drivers do:
When you are passing, give bicycles and mopeds a full lane width. Do not squeeze past these road users. The bicycle is generally a slower moving vehicle and this may require you to slow down. Wait for a clear stretch of road before passing a cyclist in a lane too narrow to share.
The consensus on the committee seems to be that mandating some minimum clearance will create an objective standard that will allow police officers to cite drivers for an infraction if they hit a bicyclist.
My fear is that HB 1250 will:
1. Not change anything the police now do.
2. Teach Missouri drivers that 3 feet is a safe passing distance.
Comments 3
Andy, what does the law state about passing an emergency vehicle on the shoulder? Or other similar circumstances (stalled car, obstruction, etc.)? I remember always being taught to pull into the other lane to give officers/responders plenty of room to do their work. I don’t know if that’s law or if it is something similar to the portion of the Missouri Driver Guide that you reference.
No matter the comparison, I’m with you on this.
Posted 23 Feb 2010 at 12:48 pm ¶Andy, I am doubly disappointed to hear that the sponsor of this legislation is a Republican. What happened to Republicans being “small government” as in “new law only when there is substantive and compelling reason only” rather than the Democrat “we don’t know of a reason a law won’t make things better so let’s do it” mindset.
Yeah, I know about various Republican dweebs that want to require all sorts of things for cyclists to do. That only proves this is not a R vs D thing and that there are motorist idiots in both parties.
Either way, there are worse things than benign neglect
Posted 23 Feb 2010 at 10:15 pm ¶Steve… The story I hear is that a friend of Rep. Sater’s had an altercation with a car, which prompted him to ask Sater for this law.
Aaron… Thanks! Now it’s finger-crossing time, I suppose. And good Q. Don’t know. I’ll see if I can find out.
Posted 23 Feb 2010 at 10:35 pm ¶