Journal News Editorial supports 3 foot law
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- November
- 13
Cyclist’s death highlights need for safety law
Merrill Cassell, the cyclist who was sideswiped by a Westchester Bee-Line bus and crushed under its wheels last week, was an advocate for integrating cycling with mass transit. This spring he worked on a campaign to get bike racks on county buses and bike storage lockers at transit hubs, in an effort to make cycling a more realistic transportation option even for those with long commutes. His loss is a tragedy that will be felt by more than just his family and fellow riders.
“It’s just so ironic that he was killed by a bus,” David McKay Wilson, a founder of the advocacy group the Westchester Putnam Bike Walk Alliance, told the Editorial Board. Wilson was one of a couple of dozen cyclists who rode with Cassell’s casket in a mournful funeral procession from the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Elmsford to the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale. Among the cyclists were some wearing bright yellow and black jerseys that looked a lot like roadway caution signs. They read, “3 Feet Please.”
The reference is not just some cycling slogan: Three feet is the minimum berth that conscientious motorists give cyclists when passing them. The buffer provides a margin of error in the event either the motorist or cyclist is upset; perhaps by a pothole or some other sudden, course-changing event. Merrill Cassell was traveling in the same direction as a Bee-Line bus on Route 119 in Tarrytown when he was sideswiped by the bus. “He could have hit the curb. He could have lost his balance. We don’t know,” Greenburgh police Capt. Joseph DeCarlo told a reporter. No charge had been filed against the driver, who was cleared to return to work.
Three feet, please
Nationwide, at least 17 states have passed laws requiring motorists to allow cyclists that 3-foot buffer, said Jennifer Clunie, executive director of the New York Bicycle Coalition. Connecticut passed a 3-feet rule last, and New Jersey is now considering adopting one.
New York, where clogged and broken roads are very much the norm, would do well to follow the lead of Connecticut and the other states. Such a law would go a long way toward educating drivers about safe practices and increase public awareness that cyclists have a right to the road, too.
Such a law would doubtless also help save the lives of cyclists, whose numbers are increasing in this age of high energy costs and smaller paychecks.
Clunie said that related legislation has been proposed many times in New York, without any progress. The efforts should be renewed, while images of the sad procession from Elmsford to Hartsdale remain fresh in people’s minds.
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This entry was posted
on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 7:02 AM by Randall Wolf. 
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DEAR SIRS , THIS SHOULD BE A FEDERAL LAW .EUROPE HAS BEEN CYCLE FRIENDLY FOR YEARS , EVERY COUNTRY HAS THE SAME RESPECT FOR THE SAFETY OF PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLIST. WE ARE SO FAR BEHIND THE TIMES ,WE TALK ABOUT INTERNATIONLLY GOING GREEN , BUT WE LEAVE IT UP TO EACH STATE TO PASS A SAFETY LAW TO PROTECT AMERICAN LIVES, I GUESS WHEN SEATBELTS WERE INSTALLED INTO CARS IN THE 60’S IT HAS TAKEN 50YRS AND 100’S OF THOUSAND’S OF NEEDLEES DEATHS TO REALIZE EVERYBODY HAS TO USE THEM. WELL EVERY STATE NEEDS A BIKE SAFETY LAW , HOPEFULLY SOONER THAN 50YRS .CHRISTOPHER LAGRUA