New Bill to Require Drivers to Yield 4-Foot Safety Buffer to Cyclists (Pittsburgh: vs, move to)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by PittsburghLlama

I am sure there are some folks who might feel dirty without a shower, but I feel like it would mostly be in their heads; either that, or I actually am quite awful in the summer and my fellow employees just put up with my stench to spare my feelings.

^ Folks, we now know why the elevators of PittsburghLlama's office building reek in mid-July!

[CaptainPittsburgh]

It passed:

PA House passes safe bicycle passing bill | Pennsylvania Walks and Bikes

[BrianTH]

197-1 . . . I guess we have only one sane person in the state House.

[CaptainPittsburgh]

Originally Posted by MeinGlanzendMotorrad

I'll bet you that encouraging more bike use won't do squat to get more people riding bikes.

You're wrong. Check this out:

The Bike Pittsburgh Blog Archives » Bike Commuting Rates in Pittsburgh Still on the Rise, Up 269% Percent Since 2000 Census

Pittsburgh is actually gaining regular bike commuters at a pretty rapid pace. You might not believe that awareness campaigns, public events and road additions like "sharrows" and bike lanes--all means of encouraging bike use--play a role in this, but they do.

Originally Posted by MeinGlanzendMotorrad

That's an adorable (retarded) bill, but most of the time if I come within four feet of a bicyclist it's because THEY'VE SWERVED AT ME when I pass them.

Where's MY protection as a motorist if I'm doing my best to avoid them?

Haha, right, we need to get that law in place to stop all those cyclists from swerving into cars. That's definitely the real problem.

[ctoocheck]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

It depends on the scenario. Many streets will have a parking lane or shoulder such that the bike could get over even further right than the edge of the travel lane. And again cars can intrude on the opposite lane briefly to pass a bike even in no-passing zones.

Well that could well put the bike in the "door zone", where some ignert jagoff might nearly kill you by indiscriminately opening his car door.
It does indeed depend on the situation though, I'm just sayin'; I reckon in most urban roads, at least, this would be the case. I hadn't though about less urban roads (Allegheny River Blvd for example, a route which I think deserves a dedicated bikeway alongside the roadway)

[BrianTH]

I was thinking about this while driving in Squirrel Hill this morning. There were lots of spots where there were no cars for an extended distance in the parking lane, and the road was marked as a no-passing zone. Assuming both bikes and cars complied with the new rules, there would be ample opportunities for legal and safe passing.

[Hopes]

Not for tractor trailors. They're 8 feet wide.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Not for tractor trailors. They're 8 feet wide.

And not particularly abundant in the back streets of Squirrel Hill.

[WestLibertyAve]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

There were lots of spots where there were no cars for an extended distance in the parking lane, and the road was marked as a no-passing zone.

Yet I bet any cyclists in that area were still riding down the middle of the road, not bothering to move out of the way of any cars who may be held up behind them.

I'd be a much bigger fan of this type of legislation if 95% of the bikers I see on a daily basis followed even HALF of the rules of the road they are supposed to. I'm all for sharing the road, but most of the ones I see tend to think that stop signs and crosswalks are nonexistent and refuse to move to the side of the road when someone wants to pass. It's hard for me to be sympathetic to a cohort that wants drivers to follow their rules, but blatantly ignores some of the most basic rules of the road.

Also, I realize this isn't as big of an issue in the city, but I drive Noblestown Road a lot between 79 and McDonald. It's a windy road with blind curves galore. Despite the fact that the Panhandle Trail runs parallel to the road and goes through all of the same towns the road does, I regularly see cyclists riding on the road, which is extremely dangerous for them and almost as much so for the drivers who have to try to time their passes to coincide with the short sight lines. Now why can't these people just use the trail that was made exactly for that purpose? I do not drive my car on the trail, so why do they ride their bikes on the road, knowing the trail is right there? Is the "challenge" really worth causing an accident over?

[Caladium]

Here's a question for everyone: On an average day, how many cyclists do you usually pass on your way to work? If it's different according to the seasons, how many do you see in the summer and how many in the winter?