Ohio Passes a Three-Foot Passing Law for Cyclists: Here's What Changes in March

Published December 13, 2016 · New Laws

Every cyclist who rides Far Hills Avenue, Wilmington Pike or the back roads of Greene County knows the feeling: a car comes up from behind, the driver decides not to wait, and the mirror goes by close enough to touch. Until now, Ohio law required only that a passing driver leave a "safe distance," a phrase that meant whatever a driver, an officer or a jury later decided it meant.

That is about to change. On December 8, 2016, the Ohio General Assembly passed Substitute House Bill 154, which writes a number into the statute. Beginning March 21, 2017, three feet is the minimum.

What the bill does

H.B. 154 amends two sections of Ohio's traffic code.

R.C. 4511.27, the passing statute. The existing rule requires a driver overtaking another vehicle to pass to the left "at a safe distance." The bill adds a sentence specific to bicycles: when a motor vehicle overtakes and passes a bicycle, "three feet or greater is considered a safe passing distance." A driver who passes closer than that is in violation of the statute.

R.C. 4511.132, the malfunctioning-signal statute. Many traffic signals change only when a sensor buried in the pavement detects a vehicle. Those sensors often do not register a bicycle, which leaves a cyclist sitting at a red light that will never turn green. The bill treats a signal that fails to detect a bicycle as a malfunctioning signal. The rider may stop, yield to any traffic that has the right-of-way, and then proceed through the intersection with ordinary care.

A violation of either section is a minor misdemeanor, the lowest level of traffic offense, with higher penalties for repeat offenders within a year. Cycling advocates who worked on the bill describe it as both a safety rule and a public-education tool, and even its supporters concede that passing laws can be difficult to enforce. I agree with both points, and I think the second one understates the law's value in a civil case.

Why a number matters in an injury claim

The real importance of H.B. 154 is not the ticket. It is what the statute does when a cyclist is hit and makes a claim against the driver.

Ohio recognizes a doctrine called negligence per se. When a statute sets a specific, concrete standard of conduct for the protection of the public, and a person violates it, the violation itself establishes that the person was negligent. The injured person still has to prove that the violation caused the injury, but the argument about whether the driver was careless is over. I explained how the doctrine works, and its limits, in a post about a motorcycle verdict several years ago.

The old "safe distance" language was too vague for that doctrine; it set a standard of reasonable care, not a specific rule. A driver who sideswiped a cyclist could argue that two feet was safe under the circumstances, and a jury had to decide. Three feet is a measurable rule. Once it takes effect, a driver who clips a rider from behind on a straight road will have a very hard time explaining to a jury how he complied with it.

The signal change helps as well. Cyclists who proceeded through a dead red light have been ticketed, and insurers have used that ticket to shift fault onto the rider. After March 21, a cyclist who stops, yields and proceeds through a signal that will not detect her is following the law.

What does not change

A few cautions, because drivers' insurers will raise them.

The law applies to motor vehicles passing bicycles. It does not change a cyclist's own duties, which include riding as far to the right as practicable when it is safe to do so, obeying signals and signs, and using lights at night. A cyclist who is partly at fault can still have a recovery reduced under Ohio's comparative negligence rule, and insurers pursue that reduction aggressively. I covered a cyclist's rights and responsibilities on the road in an earlier post.

The three-foot rule also does not take effect until March 21, 2017. A crash this winter is governed by the "safe distance" standard, though a close pass is still strong evidence of negligence under that standard.

What to do if you are hit

Bicycle crashes produce serious injuries from relatively low-speed contact, and the rider is often the only person at the scene who knows what happened. A few steps make a large difference.

• Call 911 and insist on a report. Tell the officer how far the car was from you. If you can, estimate the distance in feet; after March, that number is the whole case.
• Photograph everything before the vehicles move: the position of the bike and car, the lane width, the shoulder, the mirror or bumper damage, and your injuries. My crash-scene photo checklist applies fully to bicycle crashes.
• Identify witnesses. Other riders, pedestrians and drivers behind the car often saw the pass clearly.
• Keep the bike and your gear. Scrape marks on a helmet, a bent pedal and a damaged saddle bag show the point of contact and distance.
• Get checked out. Head injuries and fractures from a fall at 15 miles an hour are routine; adrenaline hides them.
• Do not give the driver's insurer a recorded statement until you have talked to a lawyer.

Our bicycle injury practice handles these cases throughout the Miami Valley, including the Great Miami River trail corridor, Centerville, Oakwood and the rural roads of Greene and Warren Counties where close passes are a weekly event.

What this means for you

Ohio has finally given cyclists a measurable rule, and starting March 21, 2017, a driver who passes closer than three feet is breaking the law. For a rider who is hit, that rule converts "he came too close" into a statutory violation that a jury can apply. The evidence that proves the distance still has to be gathered at the scene, and the driver's insurer will still look for ways to shift blame onto you. Both of those are reasons to get advice early.