Bicycle Safety Made Easy: CalBike Provides Workshop for CHP staff and Policymakers

Last week, CalBike hosted a bike safety workshop led by League Certified Instructor Bonnie Wehmann. Set in the streets of Sacramento, the workshop was designed to develop a shared understanding of where it is safest to ride a bicycle in a vehicle travel lane. Participants included staff members from the California Highway Patrol (CHP), State Assembly Transportation Committee, and the offices of Assemblymembers Phil Ting and Richard Bloom.

CalBike staff led the workshop’s afternoon discussion on opportunities to clarify the interpretation of Vehicle Code Section 21202, which requires bicyclists to ride to the right of a travel lane except in certain important situations, like when there is an obstacle to avoid or when the travel lane is too narrow for a car to pass the bicyclist–giving the requisite three feet–within the lane.

CalBike is committed to protecting bicyclists’ rights. In the new year, we will continue working with the CHP and legislative staff to agree on the safest interpretation of this section of the law for bicyclists, or to rewrite it to make it more clear.

 

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e-Bikes used by workshop attendees were provided by Practical Cycle, Sacramento, CA.