Ohio has implemented a new statewide law that requires vehicles to remain at least 3 feet away when passing a bicycle.
The new bill HB 154 states ” The operator of a vehicle overtaking another vehicle shall pass to the left at a safe distance and shall not again drive to the right until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle. When a motor vehicle overtakes and passes a bicycle, three feet or greater is considered a safe passing distance.”
Bike Cleveland has invented a device to measure the distance from a bike to a passing car and plan to loan it out to police departments for enforcement until each department can purchase a C3FT Device.
Check out this little video teaser!
It was a beautiful day – so we deemed it time to test out this awesome new device for local police departments to utilize.
It guages the distance of passing cars…and sets off an alarm if they are 3′ or closer. This will be a powerful tool in the enforcement of the law that takes effect on March 21st.
We’re pleased to report that no one set off the 3′ alarm on our initial tests!
We’ll be back with more details and info about our continued work with local law enforcement. Stay tuned! #alldrivers #notonemore
Posted by Bike Cleveland on Thursday, February 23, 2017
A sensor sits above the left handle of the bicycle, if a vehicle comes closer than 36 inches an alarm sounds and a mounted GoPro camera records the infraction.
The only problem with this device is the majority of people give a more than wide berth to bicyclist when passing. Bicyclist are only in danger when a driver is distracted, do not look up from a phone, or are not paying attention for another reason. It is already illegal to be distracted while driving and a driver can be ticket for that. This never ending addition of micro laws to cover every single scenario is just unnecessary, when police already have laws on the books they can enforce to protect bicyclist and other drivers.
By Phoenix Horton – DontComply.com