Call

Blog

Law
02

Blog

Technology Proves Unsafe Passing is the Norm

DATA SHOWS THAT EVERY TIME A CYCLIST GOES FOR A RIDE IN KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, THEY EXPERIENCE AT LEAST ONE UNSAFE PASS ON THEIR RIDE.

Drivers are coming within less than 1.5 feet of cyclists on the road in Knoxville with alarming regularity.

Drivers are coming within less than two feet of cyclists on the road in Knoxville with alarming regularity.

It’s not your imagination. It’s not all in your head. Your combined senses of touch, sound, and sight all know what less than three feet looks and feels like when it happens to you. You don’t need a yardstick to know a close pass when it happens. If it feels too close, the data shows that it probably met the legal definition of too close in states with a three-foot safe passing law. Take what satisfaction you may get from the data proving what we all already knew, or at least strongly suspected.

Nearly every time I’ve ridden my bike on city streets over the past few months, it has been equipped with a C3FT ultrasound detection device, connected to a data logger, which is logging every single pass. I’ve been passed with less than three feet at least one time at some point on every ride. I’ve had a go pro mounted, so every single pass has been caught on camera. At least 5% of drivers don’t give cyclists three feet when overtaking them.

Unsafe Passing Sensor

We don’t have data on the number of cars who may give cyclists three feet, but overtake the cyclist while there is oncoming traffic and it is unsafe to pass.  

Later this month, the Knoxville Police Department is going to start enforcing the three-foot law using the C3FT device. I will continue riding with my C3FT and my data logger, hoping that the data shows a change in motorist behavior that corresponds with the enforcement of the three foot law. Five other local cyclists will be doing the same, capturing invaluable data as they go about their regular commutes and rides. Respecting cyclists’ lives enough to pass them safely is not enough incentive for some drivers, but the hypothesis is that a traffic citation will be.

Check out www.knoxvilletn.gov/min3tn for more info.

Comments

Ann Groninger Jan 04, 2024

Many of our cycling clients find themselves having to interact with the criminal justice system. Typically, it’s because the driver who hits them (or their family member) is charged with a crime or traffic offense. Occasionally bicyclists themselves are charged with traffic offenses! Every state’s criminal laws are different, but there is a lot of […]

Read More
Bike Crash Road Defect Georgia
Peter Wilborn Jun 14, 2023

We recently shared the story of a trial victory from the State of Texas where a bicyclist was injured due to a defect in a road maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. Texas Road Defect   We now can tell the story of another huge win in a road defect case, this time from […]

Read More
Road defect dangerous to cyclists
Charlie Thomas Mar 14, 2023

Recently, attorneys with the Bike Law network took a case to a trial against a titan of a defendant: the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT was represented by the Attorney General’s Office, one of Texas’ largest legal teams. We had a great client, but it was a tough case to prove. So tough, in fact, […]

Read More
bike path charlotte
Ann Groninger Jan 13, 2023

  2023 got off to a rough start for Charlotte, North Carolina, particularly in the context of road safety. Within about a week, we lost a young woman who was riding her bicycle, a pedestrian killed in the same area of town, and four people were killed in a car wreck on I-85 in the […]

Read More
North Carolina Bike Crash
Ann Groninger Dec 06, 2022

Unless you’re a very recent follower of ours, you’ve heard us talk before about “contributory negligence.” To recap: “pure contributory negligence” is the law in North Carolina and only 3 other states (Alabama, Virginia, Maryland). In pure contributory negligence states, if a person is injured by someone else’s fault and the injured person contributes even […]

Read More
Is It Illegal to Ride Your Bike on the Sidewalk bikelaw
Peter Wilborn Aug 01, 2022

The laws dictating whether you can ride your bike on the sidewalk differ depending where you live. Different states have different laws on this matter, and local ordinances also vary. Let’s take a look at the legal framework behind various state laws related to cycling on sidewalks. The laws of sidewalk-riding can be very complicated […]

Read More
Ebike crash
Bruce Hagen Apr 26, 2022

DRIVER ON METH KILLS 17 YEAR OLD BICYCLIST, BARROW COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY REFUSES TO CHARGE DRIVER WITH FELONY.   On August 23, 2020, at approximately 8:40pm, 17-year old Obianuju Osuegbu was on her way home from her summer job working at a grocery store. She had earned enough money that summer to buy herself a […]

Read More
Stop as Yield
Brian Weiss Apr 25, 2022

Finally, “Stop As Yield” (the much sought after common sense traffic law for bicyclists) is coming to Colorado in 2022, likely July 1st.   Stop as Yield, aka the “Safety Stop” After the Governor Polis signs the law and the Safety Stop becomes effective, anyone who rides a bicycle or scooter on public roads will […]

Read More
Contributory Negligence
Ann Groninger Apr 25, 2022

It took losing at trial and a long appellate process, but it ended in a blow to contributory negligence in North Carolina. We just won an appeal on a bicycle crash case that happened in 2016 and came to us in 2018. The case went to trial during the spring of 2021. Our client was […]

Read More
Load More