Cyclist uses pool noodle to warn drivers
Cyclist Ruth McAllister isn’t waiting for new rules to come into effect in June setting a minimum safe distance for vehicles passing bikes.
McAllister cut a pool noodle in half and attached it to the back of her electric cargo bike as a reminder to drivers to pass safely.
Only once has a driver come close enough to brush the foam pool noodle, she said — mostly, drivers have told her they appreciate the visual reminder.
“I’ve had a couple of bus drivers open their doors when I’ve been beside them. They went: ‘Hey, I really liked your traffic spacer,’ ” she said.
Drivers passing cyclists and other vulnerable road users will be required to stay at least one metre away when changes to B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act come into effect on June 4. On roads with a speed limit above 50 kilometres per hour, drivers must maintain a distance of 1.5 metres.
Previously, the legislation was more subjective, with motorists only required to provide “due care” when passing cyclists.
Police can issue tickets to drivers who fail to maintain the required distance, ranging from $109 and three driver penalty points to $2,000 and six months in prison.
But Michael Koski, executive director of the B.C. Cycling Coalition, which has advocated for the new rules for 15 years, said the goal is more about education than enforcement.
Police will do enforcement campaigns on safe passing distances, and those campaigns will hopefully help raise awareness of the need to give adequate space when passing bikes and other vulnerable road users, he said.
“I don’t think the intent is to necessarily get hung up on the one metre versus 1.5 metre. Those are minimums,” he said. “The important message is, given the road conditions, given the speeds, given the traffic, give vulnerable road users enough space so you don’t crash into them.”
ICBC will include the safe passing rules when educating new drivers, Koski said.
Koski said he has heard drivers say they worry they won’t be able to meet the minimum distance for getting around a cyclist in busy areas, but all it takes is a little patience.
“There’s almost no opportunity or no real-world scenario where you can’t get around a cyclist eventually. It may take you an extra three seconds to get to the next stoplight,” he said.
Koski hopes the new rules help foster a greater sense of safety for cyclists and encourage more people to choose to cycle over driving.
“You need a safe space for them to feel safe to ride and it’s the laws like this that’ll hopefully encourage that.”
Todd Litman, executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, said there’s good reason to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians, because while overall traffic deaths have decreased in Greater Victoria, cyclists and pedestrians are accounting for a greater proportion of them.
Communities become safer when there are fewer cars on the road, Litman said.
“The interesting thing is that if you stop driving and you start bicycling, your risk might increase a little bit, but the risk of you injuring somebody else goes way down, and so communities become much safer when there’s more bicycling and less driving,” he said.
Litman said the changes make it easier for police to issue tickets if a driver is obviously too close to a cyclist or other vulnerable road user.
“My guess is that the police are unlikely to cite people for being a little bit too close, but that now they will have a way to cite people when they get way too close,” he said.
Saanich police spokesman Insp. Damian Kowalewich said the traffic safety unit is monitoring the changes and expects to use a combination of education, prevention and enforcement when the rules take effect.