BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING Senator Jim Beall, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 208 Hearing Date: 6/16/2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Bigelow | |----------+------------------------------------------------------| |Version: |4/21/2015 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant|Erin Riches | |: | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Slow-moving vehicles: passing DIGEST: This bill expands the slow-moving vehicle statute to include the shoulder of a highway. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Prohibits a driver from driving to the left of double solid parallel yellow or white lines except under very limited circumstances, such as passing another vehicle or entering a two-way left turn lane. 2)Allows a bicyclist to operate on any shoulder of any highway if not otherwise prohibited by statute or local ordinance. 3)Enacts the Three Feet for Safety Act, which, effective September 1, 2014, requires the driver of a motor vehicle who is passing a bicyclist in the same direction on a highway to pass at a distance of at least three feet between the vehicle and the bicycle. It also requires the driver, if unable to provide three feet of passing distance, to slow to a reasonable speed and to pass only when doing so will not endanger the bicyclist. 4)Provides that when a slow-moving vehicle has five or more vehicles in line behind it on a two-lane highway, and passing is unsafe because of oncoming traffic or other conditions, the AB 208 (Bigelow) Page 2 of ? slow-moving vehicle must turn off the roadway at the nearest safe turnout to allow other vehicles to pass. 5)Defines a slow-moving vehicle as one which is proceeding slower than the normal flow of traffic. 6)Defines "roadway" as the portion of a highway that is improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel. 7)Defines "highway" as a way or place, including a street, that is publicly maintained and open to public use for purposes of vehicular travel. This bill provides that the slow-moving vehicle rule applies when a bicyclist is riding on the shoulder of a highway. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. The author states that because the roads of rural California tend to be very narrow, it is nearly impossible for drivers to respect the Three Feet for Safety Act. Some two-lane highways are so narrow that even if a bicyclist is riding on the shoulder, the motorist is unable to provide three feet of space. Because a "roadway" is defined as a portion of a highway, both bicyclists and motorists are confused as to whether the three-foot rule applies in a situation where a bicyclist is riding on the shoulder rather than on the actual road. This bill addresses that confusion by specifying that the requirement for a slow-moving vehicle to pull over at the next turnout applies to highways (which include shoulders) rather than just roadways. The author states that this clarification will make the roads safer for both motorists and bicyclists. 2)What if the "slow-moving vehicle" is a bicyclist? Existing law defines a slow-moving vehicle as one that is proceeding slower than the normal flow of traffic. Although this definition does not technically include bicycles, existing law makes every person riding a bicycle on a highway subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle. Therefore, this bill would require a bicyclist riding on the shoulder of a highway, who has five or more cars lined up behind him or her, to turn off the highway at the nearest safe turnout to allow the vehicles to pass. But this would only apply if the cars do not pass the bike with less than three AB 208 (Bigelow) Page 3 of ? feet of space when it is safe to do so, as currently allowed under the Three Feet for Safety Act. Related Legislation: AB 1371 (Bradford, Chapter 331, Statutes of 2013) established the Three Feet for Safety Act effective September 1, 2014. Assembly Votes: Floor: 78-0 Trans: 16-0 FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday, June 10, 2015.) SUPPORT: None received OPPOSITION: None received -- END --