Give Me 3 signed into law on Sept 16. as State Bill 910 protects cyclists from vehicles on the road by giving three feet of clearance.

However, without enforcement from the Sacramento Police Department, Give Me 3 will be seen merely as a suggestion. The consequences of not enforcing this new law will be injured or killed cyclists.

In the days that led up to Give Me 3 going into effect, Sacramento police stated publically that the department will use the law as an educational tool to inform the driving population about how to safely share the road with cyclists.

The law states a motorist is to be ticketed if they drive within 3 feet of a cyclist, a ticket that is issued with a $35 fee. That fine raises to $982 if a vehicle collides with a cyclist.

Two days after it became illegal to drive within three feet of a cyclist, Tom Ross was riding in the bicycle lane on Freeport Ave when he was struck from behind by a SUV and killed.

Publically stating the Give Me 3 law will be used to educate drivers instead of protecting cyclists sends a message that the Sacramento PD have an obvious bias towards motorists, and that the safety of cyclists is not top priority to local law enforcement

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 127 Californian cyclists died in 2012 as a result of being struck by a vehicle, accounting for 4 percent of all total reported deaths for the state. 

When a car collides with another car, the passengers are protected by a cage of metal, airbags and a safety harness. Insurance covers the cost of vehicle damages and the injured are taken to the hospital. When a car collides with a cyclist, it is no longer merely an accident. It’s thousands of pounds of metal versus a person who has no protection at all. It’s an unfair match up that has a pre-determined winner. The cyclist will always lose.

The passengers in the SUV that killed Tom Ross had no injuries whatsoever.

If the Sacramento Police Department want the roads filled with it’s citizens to remain safe, the Give Me 3 law must be enforced to the extent in which it was written. It must not be treated as a guideline, but just as important as any other traffic safety law.

With the addition of new bicycle lanes and an increasing effort by bicycle advocacy groups to make the road a safe place for both motorists and cyclists, it’s the duty of the Sacramento Police Department to hold those who violate the Give Me 3 law responsible. A failure to do so will only continue to deepen the divide between motorist and cyclist and increase the unnecessary loss of lives.