Council member: Drivers should know cyclist law

Chapel Hill Town Council member Matt Czajkowski is formulating a plan to protect cyclists on roads.

The proposal involves adding a section of questions to the state driver's license exam.

The questions would test drivers on current cyclist laws" which grant cyclists full use of lanes and protection against aggressive passing.

Greater tolerance of cyclists on the road could result in fewer bike-related accidents.

""When drivers get mad" they tend to pass you very very close Czajkowski said. If they just brush you" it could be a catastrophic event.""

He said he was shocked to read the section of the N.C. Driver's Handbook that pertained to cyclists.

""Bicyclists usually ride on the right side of the lane but are entitled to use the full lane"" the handbook states. A bicyclist staying to the right in their lane is accommodating following drivers by making it easier to see when it is safe to pass.""

""I read that to my wife" and she was like ‘Nobody knows that"'"" Czajkowski said. ""You're lucky to get one in 20 people who can tell you that's a fact.""

Rainer Dammers" a member of the Chapel Hill Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board" said drivers' ignorance of cycling laws leads to aggressive driving.

""Motorists basically shout at you and try to push you off the street"" he said.

Carl Sundstrom, engineering research associate at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center, said cyclists have the right to use any non-interstate roadway.

Motor vehicles have to wait when there is not enough room to pass, he said.

The minimum passing distance is two feet in North Carolina, though three feet is recommended, he said in an e-mail.

Bicyclists often take the full lane for self-protection, to prevent cars from passing around blind corners or at the tops of hills, he said.

While biking toward downtown Chapel Hill on N.C. 54, he often is forced into the middle lane when the road absorbs traffic from N.C. 15-501.

We say we want to see more people using their bikes"" he said. Anyone living on the other side of the 15-501 off-ramp is taking their life into their own hands if they want to take that route.""

The town council could turn to the state legislature for changes" unless they could be implemented directly by the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles he said.



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