See A Biker? Then Move Over Dearborn Drivers

Dearborn bicyclists, ride on. And drivers, move over. Or, more precisely, drivers, move five feet to the left when you pass a bicyclist on a city street.

A new citywide ordinance, enacted unanimously by Dearborn City Council earlier this week, requires that drivers give bikers at least five feet of clearance when passing. Similar laws have been enacted by cities throughout Michigan and across the nation to ensure safety of bicyclists.

Bike Dearborn, a bicycling advocacy organization that promotes safe riding throughout the city, asked the city to enact the law, said the group’s director Tracy Besek.

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“We’re becoming much more bike friendly in Dearborn,” Besek said. “It is not acceptable for a fast moving car to squeeze close by us at a high rate of speed or to pass us on the right between us and the curb or parked cars.”

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The new ordinance says that when a driver is approaching a bicyclist moving in the same direction, the driver shall “exercise due care and may only overtake or pass a bicyclist when there is a safe distance.”

The ordinance specifies drivers must leave at least five feet between any part of the vehicle and the bicyclist. Drivers must always pass on the bicycle’s left side of cyclist.

Drivers who are caught violating the city law with be charged with a civil infraction. Dearborn police did not return a call seeking comment on how the department would enforce the ordinance.

Photo by Jeff Stacklin/Patch