The Boise Weekly: Bike Safety Package Comes with Fixie Crackdown
POSTED BY NATHANIEL HOFFMAN ON THU, MAR 4, 2010 AT 9:49 AM
A package of four bills aimed at protecting cyclists is to get a first hearing today in the Senate Transportation Committee. The hallmark of the package is a “three feet to pass” law, similar to the one Boise recently enacted, along with changes to state code to allow drivers to cross a double yellow line in order to safely pass a bike.
But the bills also contain a ban on riding bicycles without brakes on the street.
“As the fixie craze went up, you see people not capable of riding bikes without brakes riding bikes without brakes,” said Kurt Holzer, an avid cyclist and attorney who sat in on negotiations on the bills.
The other two bills in the package create statutes against harassing cyclists and help fund “Safe Routes to Schools” through a new fund that is paid for with a $75 extra fine on cycle-related infractions (bike on bike or car on bike). Boise Sen. Elliot Werk is sponsoring all of the bills.
The hearing is today at 1 p.m. at Senate Transpo (West Wing 53), and Holzer has asked folks to refrain from wearing spandex to the hearing.
