A cycling lobby group wants Manitoba to join the growing number of jurisdictions that require motorists to give bike riders a clear berth on roadways.

Bike To the Future wants amendments to the Highway Traffic Act that requires motorists to give a one-metre clearance when passing cyclists.

"It's about education, not enforcement," Charles Feaver, chair of Bike To the Future's provincial committee, said. "We really feel this one issue could make cycling safer and encourage more people to give up their cars and ride."

The lobby group has made a formal request for the legislative amendments in letters to Transportation Minister Steve Ashton and Healthy Living Minister Jim Rondeau.

At least 13 states in the U.S. and Nova Scotia have enacted similar amendments, known in Canada as the one-metre rule and in the U.S. as the three-foot rule, he said.

The lobby group believes the one-metre rule is more important to bike safety than making helmets mandatory, which the group opposes, Feaver said.

The Highway Traffic Act requires motorists to pass cyclists and other vehicles "at a safe distance" without defining the distance considered safe.

Motorists seem unsure how much clearance to give cyclists, Feaver said, adding some provide anywhere from half a lane to a full lane but some only give centimetres. He said one-metre clearance is enough to ensure safety at speeds within the city.

Feaver said the lobby group understand that it takes time to pass legislative amendments, adding however it remains Bike To the Future's top legislative priority.

Ashton was not available for comment this morning but a spokeswoman said the government prefers public education campaigns and infrastructure changes designed to improve safety rather than legislative amendments and penalties that might accomplish the same goal.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

Bike to the Future note:
We do not oppose mandatory helmet legislation, but we also don't support it. See the 4th point in the first section at http://biketothefuture.org/attachments/0000/0864/bttfspecialdirectorsmeeting2007-11-21.pdf.

Cyclists want one-metre law

Drivers must keep their distance: lobby group

By Paul Turenne, Winnipeg Sun

February 9, 2011, 11:07 PM

Should drivers be legally required to pull over one metre to pass a cyclist?

Nova Scotia became the first province to pass that law in December, and now a cycling lobby group is asking the Manitoba government to do the same thing.

Bike to the Future wrote to Transportation Minister Steve Ashton and Healthy Living Minister Jim Rondeau last week to formally propose that the government make it illegal to pass a cyclist on the road without leaving at least a one-metre buffer between the vehicle and the bike.

The lobby group has identified the change as the top priority on its legislative wish list.

“It’s really just to be sure the cars understand they shouldn’t come so close to a bicycle,” said Charles Feaver, chair of Bike to the Future’s provincial committee. “Cars will leave a metre if they’re going by a concrete post or a parked vehicle, but they won’t leave that much room for a cyclist.”

Section 114(1) of the Highway Traffic Act currently requires drivers passing bicycles or other vehicles to do so “at a safe distance” and to return to the right side of the road when “safely clear.”

Feaver said he doesn’t expect police officers to be out on the streets with rulers making sure the law is followed.

He said it’s mostly about educating drivers so they “make a conscious effort” to pass cyclists safely, which Feaver believes will improve cycling safety much more effectively than any kind of mandatory helmet law.

“It will make everybody feel safer. A lot of the incidents on the road are due to a lack of common understanding,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Ashton said the government is reviewing a number of proposals related to active transportation, including the one-metre rule.

“Bicycle infrastructure and public education continues to be our favoured method of encouraging safe and healthy transportation,” she said.

More than a dozen U.S. states have such a rule — known there as the “three-foot rule” — in place.

Nova Scotia passed its law in December but has yet to proclaim it.

The government there is developing an educational campaign to help familiarize drivers with the change before the law comes into force.

paul.turenne@sunmedia.ca

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