Why is this necessary? If the biker doesn't obstruct the rest of traffic, then an acceptable buffer should be no problem. If the road is such that the biker cannot drive without obstructing the rest of traffic, then shame on the biker for ignorantly obstructing our society.

Ron is right. I remember seeing a group of about 50 cyclists obstructing Friday afternoon traffic in downtown Baltimore a few years back. Some were so brazen to have targets on their back. Guess what - I should have run you guys over. And you would have deserved it.

Cyclists have their piece of the road and that's respected. I'm a cyclist, I know. I also run - on the sidewalks. And yes, I've knocked off a cyclist that had crossed my path on the sidewalk. Oh well - if they were where they were supposed to be, there wouldn't be a problem, right?

Just another way to deter the masses.

I ride a bicycle, and I drive a car too. There aren't many cars that come within three feet of my bike. I stay as far as possible to the right, most cars are five, seven, even ten feet or more to my left. I think someone's been "buzzing" the cyclists, which is the reason we have this hostility.
These group rides are composed of cyclists with many skill levels, from expert to novice. Some of them are acting as "human road cones" for the rest of the group. And the men are going to protect the women, which is an important fact to consider, before you go berzerk.
But remember, you have a car; if a large group of cyclists is blocking the road, you can turn a different direction at the next intersection, and detour-take an alternate route to your destination.
I try to sympathize with motorists, because I drive too, but I have found that motorists accuse cyclists of blocking the road [i]even when the bikes are doing the speed limit[/i]. Which is the end of the argument. We started off listening to your complaint, assuming that the bikes were going really slow, and then it turns out they were really fast.

That you two can be so callous about a human life and their right to transportation by choice and/or necessity is amazing to me.

Would you exhibit the same behavior to a person on a horse? A person driving those mobile brooms around? A Cushman cart?

No, you wouldn't.

It's three feet. that's about as much room as you would give cyclists now when you pass then.

Oh, and Colt?
That was called Critical Mass. The point is to raise awareness to cyclists and their right to travel. Hitting them would have compounded the consequences for you, and would have raised the level of awareness to stratospheric levels.

Next time, I say go ahead and hit them.

Then, after the group of cyclists has finished pulling you out of your car window, smashed up your car, and left you bloodier than you left the cyclists; then the police, the state's attorney, and the court system would hit you even harder in the wallet, and then you'd be hit even harder from behind for 3-5 years.

Go for it, big man.

Shame on the State legislature for bowing down to another special interest group. Hopefuly, this bill dies and.

Bicyclists pay no highway taxes, and should therefore have no more special privileges than pedestrians.

When a bicyclist hears or sees a vehicle approaching, he should pull far off the shoulder to not impeded traffic. Bicyclists caught in the traffic lanes should be fined.

Good thing we permit motorists to kill and injury people. From the comments on here the act as though driving is a right.

James,
Not all cyclists ride in the city. I live in a scenic rural area, where cycling groups take weekend fun rides EVERY weekend. The roads have no shoulders and no turn lanes. There are no easy detours -- when I run across a bunch of Lance Armstrong wannabes going 25 in a 40 or 50 mph zone, I can't just 'turn at the next corner and go around' them. That will take me a mile or more out of my way.

I use these roads to go to the grocery store, the doctor's office, my parents' house, the hardware store, you name it. I don't appreciate the packs of city dwellers who drive out here, park their cars, and clog up my neighborhood thoroughfares. I can't tell you how many times I have been driving at the posted speed and come around a blind corner, only to almost hit a cyclist going less than half the posted speed in the middle of the lane.

I think that, along with this bill, the Assembly should pass one mandating that cyclists must stay off roads with a speed limit higher than 30 mph, unless that road has a wide shoulder or dedicated center turn lane.

So bassically everyone commenting here against the bill just hates cyclists on the road period. Fine, you hate cyclists. We as a state already decided that bikes are important enough mechanisms of transport that they can be on the road. Now lets make it precise what motorists must do to legaly pass them. As it stands now, police could cite motorists for an unsafe pass even if you passed a bike by more than 3 feet. All this bill does is make current law exact! This way everyone knows exactly what is expected of them. If you actually care about getting around safely you'd support this. But if your real beef is that you want to go faster, safety be damned, then you'll never be happy, even if bikes were magically off all roads.
You pick, which one are you?

Beth,
A mile isn't very far for a car. You could still take an alternate route. If you stay on the same road, you should stay 200 feet back to avoid a problem.
I don't think these cyclists are from the city, I think they are from the suburbs.
No bill will ever be passed to get cyclists off the roads. However, widening the roads to make a shoulder and center turn lane is a good idea, and something the assembly should consider.

Beth,

Learn to pass. There's an oncoming lane on those low traffic roads that cyclists tend to prefer and it's rarely occupied. If they slow you down for a full minute I'd be shocked.

The speed limit is not a right. It's a limitation. It's a responsibility: You must go slower than it. It offers no guarantee of speed.
A speed minimum does. There are few roads that have these, and when they do the road is designed so that you can maintain that speed at all points and users such as bicycles are banned.

James,

Rural paved roads are already expensive. Making them more expensive isn't the solution. The solution is for everyone to calm down, take it easy, and quit stirring up fights.

I had a guy pull up next to me this weekend, slow down to my pace, and honk. He hung out for a few seconds and then pulled through. That's how easy it was to pass me. So easy that he had time to slow down and honk while occupying the oncoming lane.
Wow, I can't believe how much I clearly obstructed him.

Mista,

Like everyone else bicyclists pay other taxes. Property, sales, income, etc. The roads are subsidized by these taxes to the tune of 30%. I guarantee my bicycle takes less than 30% of the space your car does. And it has far less wear and tear: We're subsidizing your car.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/2006cpr/es06h.htm

It may also bum you out to know that many of those Lance wannabe's are the doctor's Beth is heading to see. They pay more road taxes then you do on their more expensive cars; I'm gonna guess.

Then there's all that free parking.

I have a thought experiment for you.

Travel north on Jarrettsville Pike. Keep going north past Jacksonville toward Ladew Gardens. Notice all the curves in the road? See the trees that grow up to the asphalt? Now imagine you are driving on the road. You are going 50 mph because that's the speed limit. It's legal to go the speed limit, and it's morally OK as well. You have a midsize car (your husband has the truck -- he's picking up two yards of mulch). So, you come upon a group of cyclists who want you to just go around. OK, well, as soon as I can pass safely and legally...good thing I'm not taking my elderly mother to the doctor today. Oh, wait, I know! I can turn left on Manor Road, drive 3.5 miles to Old York Road, turn right, drive 1 mile to Hess Road, turn right, and drive 2.3 miles to get back to Jarrettsville Pike. That'll get me around so conveniently -- only 4 miles out of my way!

Or think about this...perhaps the Elkridge-Harford Hunt should go down to the inner-ring burbs. Park the horse trailers on an open lot and ride around on horseback to see the sights. You all shouldn't mind. If you have somewhere to go, be patient. The trailer owners pay taxes for the roads too. Besides, you can just go around the horses. Take a detour if they're clogging your roadways. It might be inconvenient for you, but aren't the riders ENTITLED to do whatever the heck they want? After all, the cyclists seem to think so...

Dear crhilton:

Nobody claims the riders are entitled to do whatever they want. You, however, seem to be asserting that motorists should have exactly such entitlement.

The comments on this blog shock me. I can't believe that there are so many people that resent and attack people for riding bicycles on roads. What is next? Are you not allowed to walk on the side of a road? Do you people not have any respect for the value of a life? Does it slow you down too much, make you get where you're going a few minutes later? Is that more important than a life? Larry Bensky was my brother-in-law. He was a Father, a Husband, a Son, an Uncle, a Friend, a Businessman, an Engineer, a Teacher, a Mentor, a Student, a Boss, an intellegent amazing funny quirky devoted loyal COMPASSIONATE person. And YES, he loved to ride. What are you? Do you think that you have as many people that care about you as my Brother-In-Law did? I doubt it.

I'm happy that we are passing a common sense law and wasting tax dollars on having lawyers and elected officails give this vaulable time. I'm also happy that we will see ZERO enforcement in this law.

Way to go Jimmy Malone!