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Biking laws may be clarified

Cyclist legislators' bill aims at both riders, motorists

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 11, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

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Sen. Greg Brophy, who logs about 6,000 miles a year on his bicycle, has plenty of horror stories about dodging empty beer cans and truckers blowing by at 72 mph.

So, the Wray Republican has teamed up with the House's avid biker, Rep. Michael Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs, to retool Colorado's biking laws.

Their measure, Senate Bill 148, unanimously passed the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday.

"We just want to clarify our legal rights and obligations," Brophy said. "And this makes us safer."

The bill addresses the interaction between bicyclists and motor vehicles, cycling as far as possible on the right side of the road, and sets out penalties for throwing an object at a cyclist and intentionally driving unnecessarily close to one in a threatening or dangerous manner.

Current law, Brophy said, has sections that conflict. One part says cyclists can ride two abreast as long as they don't impede the normal flow of traffic and another section says, in effect, that they can't do that.

Greg Fulton, of the Colorado Motor Carriers Association, said he was concerned with the section that requires a 3-foot bubble between a bike and a vehicle. He said that might not be possible on some narrow roads.

As for throwing things, the current law make it illegal to toss a "missile" at a cyclist. Brophy's bill changes that to "object."

"I'm pretty sure a full beer can is a missile, but is an empty beer can?" he said. "I think we need to be clearer on that."

Asked if anything else had ever been thrown at him, Brophy hesitated. "Does a finger count?" he asked.

Comments

  • February 11, 2009

    9:43 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    knightsbud writes:

    On the mountain roads these seem to be a favorite bike ride now, year around. During the nicer days it's not unusual to have constant stream of bikers. My question is, the legality of riding 2 and sometimes 3 abreast when there is only room for 1 rider, thus the other riders are well into the line of traffic which means the upcoming vehicles behind the bikes, must navigate around constant curves sometimes by being forced into the oncoming lane of traffic, crossing the solid yellow line. More than once we have had close calls with oncoming vehicles and bikers who figure riding on the actual road, not the bike lanes are okay and that we, the auto drivers should take the risk of a headon wreck instead of them moving out of the actual roadway.

    Bike clubs seem to be the biggest abusers of the laws on riding. It's gotten steadly worst as the years go by and we are all waiting for a really tragic wreck to bring this to the law makers attention.