Green Jersey

Backing New Jersey’s proposed bicycle buffer

The Star-Ledger editorial board wrote last week that the 3-foot bicycle buffer bill sponsored by New Jersey senators Steve Oroho and Brian Stack is self-serving, unenforceable and silly. Bicyclists would be better helped, the writers said, by a public education campaign or additional bike lines.

The proposed bill compels motorists to leave a buffer of at least three feet when passing a cyclist or pay a fine. New Jersey would become the 14th state requiring a three-foot gap.

The editorial board of the Press of Atlantic City, in an article today, disagrees, saying the bill “will do no harm and will certainly educate drivers and raise their consciousness about safely sharing the road with bicyclists.” The blog of advocacy group WalkBikeJersey is asking readers to contact their state legislators to voice support for the bill. And the New Jersey Bicycling Association backs it. Tom Mains of Hamilton, the group’s president, told the Star-Ledger, “Anything that can make cyclists safer on the road is a good thing.”

Of course, a commenter on the WalkBikeJersey blog pointed out that three feet won’t matter much if the car is traveling at more than 25 miles per hour, and Mains and other advocates concede a buffer law would be hard to enforce. Said the Press: “The law would be difficult to enforce unless a police officer happened to be right there when some motorist crowded a cyclist. But if the measure does nothing other than to get people thinking, talking and even arguing about cyclists and cars, it would be a plus.”

We agree. State leaders should be promoting bicycling as an alternative, clean mode of transportation and doing everything within their power to make cycling and walking in New Jersey safe. This law would send a message that they support, on some level, the idea of cycling for work and recreation.

It would make motorists more aware of the dangers cyclists face, and more apt to leave space and slow down the next time they see one, if only in the short-term.

It would be hard to enforce, but that’s not the point. The law sends a signal: that it’s wrong to crowd bicyclists and hog the road. Sure, we should have more bike lanes. Better public awareness of cyclists is a must, and a $3.6 billion spending plan announced today by the state Department of Transportation includes money for bicycle safety. But if this buffer is the best we can do right now for cyclists, we should take it.