Drivers Beware: New WA Law Requires More Space For Bikes

OLYMPIA, WA — A new state law will go into effect soon that creates specific rules on how drivers can pass bicyclists, pedestrians, and other non-vehicular road users — and increases fines for failing to obey the rules.

Gov. Jay Inslee signed SB 5723 on Monday. The law will require drivers to move into an adjacent lane on roads with two or more lanes in one direction, when practical, while passing a vulnerable user. On one-lane roads, drivers must give at least 3 feet of space to vulnerable road users, like pedestrians, scooters, bikes, and tractors without a cab. Finally, on one-lane roads without 3 feet of room, drivers must pull into the oncoming lane to pass a vulnerable user, if that other lane is clear.

Under current law, there are not specific requirements for drivers on how to pass, just to do so "at a safe distances," according to the Washington Bikes policy group.

"Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and other members of the state's vulnerable user groups account for less than 15 percent of the roadway users. However, these groups account for nearly half of the serious injuries and fatalities on Washington's roadways. This new law will help to reduce the risk to all of those citizens from serious injury or death at the hands of another person traveling on our roads," said Brian Lange with ABATE of Washington, a motorcyclist advocacy group.

The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.