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Students must change gears to adapt to new bicycle laws

Laws intended to make riding safer for bikers go into effect

By Samuel Cohen

Posted on Sept. 27, 2007, at 12:00 a.m.

On Sept. 20, new bike laws were enacted for Maine, affecting bikers and motorists on campus.

Motorists must now give bicyclists three feet of space when passing them on the road. Drivers are allowed to cross the yellow line when passing bikes if it is safe to do so. Bicyclists can use drive-through windows at businesses without getting turned away. Also any child 16 years old or younger must wear helmets or risk a $25 fine. A warning will be given for a first offense and the officer will educate the child on the need for a helmet. A second offense will result in the $25 fine, although it will be waived upon proof of purchase of a bicycle helmet.

Lieutenant Paul Paradis, a Public Safety police officer, wants to emphasize the importance of helmets regardless of age. “It may not be required under present law for students, but your head is the heaviest part of your body, and just like any object you throw the heaviest object is going to lead. In any accident the chances are your head is going to lead and hit the ground first. It’s very important to wear helmets while bicycling,” he said.

According to Paradis, there have been no incidents involving bicyclists getting hit by a car in the last four or five years. The last incident was when a biker ran into the hood of a police cruiser.

The new laws come at a time when many students are turning to bikes to avoid high gas prices.

Richard Dort, President of the University of Maine Cycling Club and a music education major, has seen growth in his club. “It’s exploded this year. It’s gone from five to six people every meeting last year to 16 this year.”

Dort is happy with the bike lanes in Orono and Old Town and is a proponent of constructing a shoulder on all new roads. “If you call it a bike lane, people get angry that the government is wasting their money. If you call it a shoulder they agree that we should have them built,” he said. He also said that the construction of new shoulders would promote more people on bicycles to commute to work or school.

Bicyclists should be aware of the road they are riding on, Dort said. If there is no bike lane or shoulder, a bicyclist should be riding one and a half to three feet into the road. This forces cars to go around the rider rather than trying to squeeze past them, which is much more dangerous.

Robert Goodwin, a third-year survey engineering technology major and avid bicyclist, said the new laws are great, but he wants some changes on campus as well. “They should create less parking lots and put in more bike racks,” he said. “College Ave. could use some new paving and there is glass and sand out there that should get cleaned up. It’s not only dangerous to bikers but to motorists as well.”

Dort is also glad he won’t get turned away at a drive through. He remembers when he was younger he used to ride his bike to the McDonalds window. “The cups used to fit perfectly into my water-bottle holder,” he said.

Maine became the tenth state to enact a law requiring a three-foot cushion for bikers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 27th, 2007, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.