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Bike Accident Brings Attention To "Three Foot Rule"
Posted on July 21, 2009
Two years ago, the Tennessee General Assembly enacted the Jeff Roth & Brian Brown Bicycle Protection Act. Better known as the “Three Foot Rule, makes it a Class-C misdemeanor if the operator of a motor vehicle, when overtaking and passing a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on the roadway, does not leave a safe distance between the motor vehicle and the bicycle of not less than three feet. The driver must maintain a three-foot clearance until safely past the overtaken bicycle.
Representatives of the Giles County Bike Riders team appeared on WKSR to ask the publics help in obeying the law. Dr. Brandon Kessinger was injured recently in the area of the Baptist Association Building on the Highway 64 bypass when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver.
“The three-foot law was clearly broken as my co-rider was sent much more than three feet in the air when he was hit,” team member Barry Whitt said.
The law also provides that a person riding a bicycle upon a roadway has the same right to that roadway as the driver of a motor vehicle and has all of the rights and duties applicable to the driver of a motor vehicle while using such roadway.
Kessinger was treated for a large amount of road-rash and told to consult his doctor for a follow-up on the possibility of broken bones and other injuries.
The hit-and-run vehicle was described as a black Ford F-150 pickup, certain it is a 2005-09 model. The vehicle sustained damage to the passenger side. Anyone who has information related to the accident is asked to call the Tennessee Highway Patrol at 363-5734.
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