12 years ago, things got very tense in the relationships between users of Skyline Boulevard. The road is popular with bicycle and car users alike due to its sweeping curves, natural context, and proximity to downtown Portland. But joy turned to terror as we began to hear reports of serious road rage and harassment against bicycle riders. It was a big enough deal that over 100 people showed up to a forum on a Thursday night to talk about it. And among the crowd was the Multnomah County District Attorney, the road rager himself, a bicycle lawyer (or three), representatives from Oregon Bicycle Racing Association, and so on.
Clearly, this issue had struck a nerve. And besides just the classic driver-vs-biker energy, much of the anxiety in the room was sparked by confusion over whether or not drivers are allowed to cross over a double-yellow line to safely pass a bicycle rider. It’s a common misconception among drivers that they can’t cross the centerline on two-lane rural roads, so they get extra peeved when they come up on a slower-moving bicycle rider. And then, instead of waiting for a wider section of the roadway or just crossing the centerline (which is legal, keep reading), they pass too closely.
Whether they do it on purpose or not, the result is frayed nerves and a terrifying experience for the bicycle rider.
Fast forward to 2023 and I’m happy to report that Oregon is about to pass a new law that should help fix this issue. Senate Bill 895 has passed both chambers of the Oregon Legislature without much fanfare and is headed to the House Floor and then the Governor’s desk to be signed any day now. The bill (which we first covered back in April) does several important things to amend Oregon Revised Statute 811.420 (the law that governs passing in a “no passing” zone).
Currently, when driving in a no passing zone, there are some exceptions when you are legally able to pass another vehicle. The law says you can pass someone on the left in a no passing zone if they just turned onto another road, driveway or alley; or if you need to move further to the left — even across the centerline — you are allowed to do so in order to avoid an “obstruction” in front of you.
SB 895 adds two key sections to ORS 811.420. The first is that drivers must drive at a speed that is at least five miles per hour under the speed limit when they pass another vehicle or any type of “obstruction” on the road. And second, the bill amends the definition of “obstruction” to explicitly include “a person who is riding a bicycle or operating another type of vehicle and who is traveling at a speed of less than one-half of the speed limit.”
That’s it! Hopefully the DMV and other educational outlets will help everyone (including police officers!) learn about the new law so that it begins to change behaviors and leads to more sane passing on roads like Skyline. (And hopefully the current Republican boycott of the legislature doesn’t create a procedural snafu that prevents this bill from being pushed across the finish line.)
We owe a debt of gratitude to the bill’s chief sponsor, Eugene-area Democrat Senator Floyd Prozanski. But it would not have happened without the advocacy and insights of Doug Parrow and Richard Hughes, two retired Oregonians who took it upon themselves to identify this problem and do the legwork to create the bill and get it through the system. Thanks Richard and Doug!