Bicycle safety ordinance considered

One of the goals of the Plano Bicycle Association is to increase rider safety through education of both cyclists and motorists. A new ordinance being considered by the city council may make its job a little bit easier.

Earlier this month, the council heard a report from Police Chief Greg Rushin concerning an ordinance drafted by his department, with strong input from the association. It is modeled after a bill that was passed by both the state House and state Senate in 2009 before being vetoed by Gov. Rick Perry. Since the veto, several cities in North Texas have passed similar ordinances.

From 2006 to 2009, there were 142 car crashes involving bicycles in Plano, for an average of 35.5 per year. That number jumped to 49 accidents in 2010, and through September of this year the number of accidents was 34. Rushin said all accidents are investigated and the department has determined that the bicyclists are at fault 52 percent of the time, while the motorists are at fault 48 percent of the time. He said 76 percent of the riders who are involved in crashes were not wearing helmets.

The ordinance would set rules for how motorists must interact with riders. When passing a bicyclist on a street with two or more lanes in each direction, the motorist must switch to another lane. On a one-lane street, drivers of cars must pass no closer than three feet from the rider, while drivers of large trucks must give six feet of clearance. Rushin said this is to prevent the cyclist from being blown off the road or otherwise affected by the passing vehicle.

Rules would also be set in place to prevent cars from passing a cyclist and then quickly slowing down to make a right-hand turn, an occurrence Rushin said was particularly dangerous. The ordinance would also prevent motorists from intimidating or harassing cyclists and require then to use due care to prevent collisions with cyclists.

The council members had some concerns over the vagueness of the definitions of harassment, and Rushin said he would work with city staff and the city's legal team to clean up the language.

Councilman Pat Gallagher, an Addison police officer, said he was in favor of the ordinance.

"We are going to keep somebody safe with this ordinance," he said. "This will send out a message and signal that Plano takes it very seriously."

Some concerns were also expressed about how enforceable the law would be and how much of an impact the law would have since there are already laws on the books preventing dangerous driving. Rushin said regardless of the enforcement difficulties, the bicyclist association felt this would give them more tools to educate the public.

Councilwoman André Davidson seemed to sum up the thoughts of many of the council members, saying she supported the ordinance and saw no downside to passing it.

"Even though I am not sure how much of a difference it will make, I do think there is a certain amount of positive marketing for our city and the type of community we want to be so that people know we are a bicycle-friendly community, and we are putting all these trails together and you can commute to work and do these things here," she said. "For that reason, even though I am not totally convinced it puts a lot of meat on the bones, I think there is probably enough positive to make it justifiable."

Rushin said he will bring a revised version of the ordinance back at a future meeting for council consideration.

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