Did you know that as of September 16, 2014, California motorist have been required to “give bikes three feet” when passing in the same direction of travel as the bicyclist? Three feet of clearance has been recommended by the California DMV in its’ driver handbook for several years, but this new law makes it official.
With summer upon us, more bicycles are out on the area road, and it is a good time to familiarize oneself with this fairly new law. The three feet distance extends to any part of the bicycle, the bicyclist and any part of the motorist’s vehicle. Prior to the passage of this law, the California law was that motorists were to pass at a less specific “safe distance”.