If you read one thing: Since Houston passed a law in 2013 requiring drivers to give cyclists and other vulnerable road users at least three feet of space, police have only written 64 citations to drivers for violating the ordinance, preferring to focus on education.
What is the law? The Safe Passing law requires drivers to not come within six feet of a vulnerable road user — pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users, riders on horseback — as they approach, and leave "not less than three feet" as they pass.
The ordinance also makes it a crime, punishable by up to $500, to knowingly throw an object at a vulnerable road user or use the vehicle to menace or harass them.
Why haven't police written more citations? The lack of tickets is not surprising, cyclists and city officials say, because the Safe Passing law was more aimed at education than enforcement from the start.
Plus, enforcement requires police officers to witness a violation, even if the driver strikes a pedestrian or cyclist.
So when and where were citations issued? More than three-quarters of all citations were written from 2014 to 2017, as the city and cycling advocates pressed for driver education, paired with some enforcement.
At least a third of all citations were issued in the downtown area and along Washington Avenue.
Looking ahead: Ultimately, said BikeHouston Executive Director Joe Cutrufo, it will be better street design, not enforcement of this ordinance, that leads to fewer close calls for cyclists.
Cutrufo: "We are clearly still lacking in safe infrastructure that physically separates drivers of motor vehicles from pedestrians and people on bikes."
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