[B’ Spokes: This article got me thinking about what direction our 3 foot passing law with it’s narrow highway highway exception (or is it when you can’t pass legally exception) is trying to go? More respect for cyclists or less? Anyway a few highlights for this article:]
By ALAN DAVIES, Crikey
Cyclists are outraged a jury found a truck driver not guilty of dangerous driving causing the death of a cyclist this week. It’s time the law stopped treating cyclists as ‘mere obstacles’ to motorists.
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It’s difficult to imagine another situation in which a driver needs to exercise greater care and wait for a safe opportunity to pass – a truck weighing at least 20 tonnes, and apparently boxed in by other vehicles so the driver couldn’t change lanes, bearing down from behind on a cyclist riding along a narrow, winding road. Yet under the law it now appears motorists can treat a cyclist with the same disregard as they would a witch’s hat and leave no margin for error by passing as close as they like.
[B’ Spokes: Note that being boxed in would fall under the so called “can’t pass legally” exception of our 3 foot law that seems is the intention of the legislature to allow (specifically testimony when a double yellow is present but if you make a general case that includes that it includes other things as well. But please note the subject of this exception is a “highway… is not wide enough” so I doubt the “can’t pass legally” spin will hold up in court.]
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Motorist almost universally assume they’re entitled to travel at the speed limit at all times. Our cities would be better places if instead there was a culture of driving according to prevailing conditions.
They would be more liveable if the driving culture also included consideration for the welfare of all other road users, and of those who live along or use adjoining land uses.
As I’ve said many times before, cars will be with us for decades yet. It’s therefore all the more important to ‘re-position’ driving as a highly conditional privilege not a presumed right.
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https://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2013/05/08/are-cyclists-mere-obstacles-to-motorists/