Bicycle Safety - "3 ft to pass" - Coloroda USA

I'm on a mailing list where Colorado Bicycle Law Senate Law 158 was passed.

The essence:

SB 148 creates safe and common sense rules for bicycles and motor vehicles on public roads. Here are the highlights.
PASSING
The bill gives motorists more freedom to safely pass a bicyclist by allowing them to cross the centerline when safe to do so. By allowing three feet passing distance, it creates a safer environment on the road.
LANE POSITION
Clarifying language gives bicyclists the ability to ride as far right as is safe. Also on one-way roads with more than one lane, bicyclists may also ride as far left as is safe.
MORE THAN ONE RIDER
The bill clarifies that bicyclists may pass one another or ride side-by-side if they are not impeding the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.
ANTI-HARASSMENT
Language in the bill makes throwing an object towards a bicyclist a class 2 misdemeanor and driving towards a bicyclist in a dangerous manner a careless driving offense.

More on the link above, and I wasn't quite sure where to post this, but somewhere someone is doing the right thing and the Bill becomes a Colorado law by August.

Now I'm off to find where Colorado is...
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Driving TOWARDS a bicyclist in a dangerous manner.
Am I the only person who infers intent behind this? or am I just being paranoid?
Cause that would make it attempted GBH, offensive weapon, attempted murder or whatever.

I'm probably just being weird.

This is London my friend...

You get 3 inches, no more.

This is London my friend...

You get 3 inches, no more.

That's the worst chatup line I've ever heard

Worse than the "Is that a mirror in your pocket?" one?

I quite like that one

Seems to bring them roughly in line with the law in the UK? No legal requirement to leave 3 feet, it's just recommended.

I know when I was taught to drive I was always told to pass cyclists leaving them 'enough room to fall off'.

for the record, riding here in the US is pretty chill. Manhattan is rough for obvious reasons, Chicago can be nuts because the cars have so much space to approach high speeds and the intersections can be massive, but in my experience with other cities (atlanta, cleveland, DC, and some other smaller ones), it's pretty chill. Signaling when appropriate is huge and frankly most riders don't do it enough for fear of looking dorky, and not realizing how much motorists actually appreciate it and respond to it

Seems to bring them roughly in line with the law in the UK? No legal requirement to leave 3 feet, it's just recommended.

I know when I was taught to drive I was always told to pass cyclists leaving them 'enough room to fall off'.

Highway code rule 163

"Overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so. You should
....
give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car (see Rules 211-215)"

No minimum distance, just guidance. Doesn't matter though, since they can't spot it on camera they don't enforce it anyway.

I'm on a mailing list where Colorado Bicycle Law Senate Law 158 was passed.

Blimey, they pass laws on mailing lists over there? ;)

Blimey, they pass laws on mailing lists over there? ;)

The 140 characters allowed by Twitter just isn't quite enough.

The 140 characters allowed by Twitter just isn't quite enough.

That's probably the minimum clearance that you have to give to a law when you pass it on a mailing list.

I used to be a driving instructor and I would always teach pupils to give two meters to pass a cyclist, if you cant then pass slowly. This was standard for all D.I.s. The thinking behind this was a person on a bike stands approx 6ft, if they topple/swerve you've still got room to to avoid collision?

Yeah i was told you have to leave enough room to let cyclists topple over without hitting you.

I heard (maybe on bikesnob) that some americans were developing a lazer that showed a ring three foot around you on the ground while you cycled along, to show motorists how much space to leave.

Up the voltage... job done

Yeah i was told you have to leave enough room to let cyclists topple over without hitting you.

I heard (maybe on bikesnob) that some americans were developing a lazer that showed a ring three foot around you on the ground while you cycled along, to show motorists how much space to leave.

You mean something like this?

yep

(but that doesn't look like 3 feet ) but yep.

Up the voltage... job done

"Pass too close by, you gonna fry..."