by Ray Thomas
Sometimes strange things happen to a bill as it passes through the Oregon Legislature. For example, SB 108, which creates a new “safe distance” law for motorists passing bicycles, started out as a measure requiring commercial truckers to use a “forward crossview mirror” so as to see pedestrians immediately in front of [...]
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Filed under: Bikes & The Law, Road Rules
by Ray Thomas
The 2007 Oregon Legislature passed HB 3314, creating an enhanced penalty for careless diving if it contributes to serious physical injury or death to a “vulnerable user of a public way,” and will go into effect January 1, 2008. The purpose of this article is to discuss the Vulnerable User legal concept and [...]
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Filed under: Bikes & The Law, Road Rules, Safety
by Ray Thomas
While pedestrians and bicycles sometimes share a rather wary alliance, their unity comes from a shared vulnerability to the speed and mass associated with motorized travel. And bicycles become the lawful equivalent of the pedestrian relative to motor vehicles in the eyes of the law whenever a rider dismounts or rides on [...]
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Filed under: Bikes & The Law, Road Rules
Shoulders, multi-use paths, bike lanes & sidewalks
by Ray Thomas
Pedestrians, bicycles, and motor vehicles at various points all pass over roadways, sidewalks, multi-use paths, bicycle lanes, and roadway shoulders. The purpose of this article is to provide a basic primer on the rights of pedestrians in each area.
On sidewalks, pedestrians rule
The law of sidewalks [...]
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Filed under: Bikes & The Law, Road Rules
by Ray Thomas
A safety education effort, complete with posters containing bicycles with daisies for wheels, free bells and a series of upbeat Burma Shave-like posters (“don’t be a silent passer”), was staged recently on Portland’s Hawthorne Bridge by P-DOT, the Community Cycling Center, the BTA, Shift, and Green Empowerment. Swanson, Thomas & Coon’s Margaret Weddell [...]
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Filed under: Bikes & The Law, Road Rules
by Ray Thomas
We are tired of hearing about terrible accidents where a motorist kills or grievously injures a bicyclist by failing to give the rider a lawful share of the road and the only consequence for the motorist is a traffic ticket that doesn’t even require a court appearance and includes no drivers license suspension.
Bicycle [...]
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Filed under: Bikes & The Law, Road Rules, Safety
by Ray Thomas
All too often, serious accidents are caused by drivers without insurance coverage. Oregon law makes it illegal to drive without insurance. If you are injured by a driver without insurance, you may have coverage on your bicycle from your automobile insurance policy. There are two types of important insurance coverage contained in every [...]
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Filed under: Bikes & The Law, Road Rules
by Ray Thomas
Fortunately, most bicycle accidents do not result in personal injuries. Instead, wheels get bent, helmets scraped (you did have your helmet on didn’t you?) and, if the accident is the motorist’s fault, a “property damage” claim is made against an insurance company.
For the bicyclist, property damage claims are frustrating. Few lawyers are interested [...]
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Filed under: Bikes & The Law, Road Rules, Safety
by Ray Thomas
If you listen to groups of bicyclists, during food or rest breaks, talking about riding in Oregon, you will inevitably hear about dangerous neighborhood cranks who for some reason have it in for bike riders. These folks will typically use whatever equipment they have access to in order to register their protest to [...]
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Filed under: Bikes & The Law, Road Riding, Road Rules, Safety
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