Around New England

Bicyclist Safety Bill That Would Increase Requirements For Drivers In Massachusetts On Governor Charlie Baker’s Desk

January 2, 2023

A bill designed to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians by adding certain requirements for motor vehicle drivers in Massachusetts is on Governor Charlie Baker’s desk.

Both chambers of the state legislature approved the bill late last month during so-called “informal sessions,” during which any member could have scuttled it by objecting.

The final version of the bill, according to one of its sponsors, state Senator Will Brownsberger (D-Belmont), would require drivers to leave at least 4 feet of clearance when passing pedestrians and bicyclists.

The bill would also make it easier for cities and towns to ask state officials to lower speed limits in certain places. Currently, state law sets the ordinary speed limit at 30 miles per hour in so-called “thickly settled” areas, which state law defines as areas where homes and businesses average less than 200 feet apart for a distance of a quarter-mile or more. An existing state statute allows local officials to lower the speed limit in those areas to 25 miles per hour. But the new bill would, according to Brownsberger, clarify the process that local officials can use to ask state officials to lower speed limits on certain roads, setting a 90-day deadline for state officials to respond.

The bill (Massachusetts House Bill 5103) also would require any motor vehicle or trailer more than 10,000 pounds operated in Massachusetts after January 1, 2025 have “a lateral protective device, convex mirrors, crossover mirrors, and backup cameras.”

A lateral protective device is designed to prevent pedestrians or bicyclists from falling under the side of a large motor vehicle.

These requirements do not apply to ambulances, fire trucks, low-speed vehicles, and farm tractors.

The bill also bans after-market modifications such as bug deflectors and chrome visors (which the bill says decreases visibility) and bull bars (which the bill says “increase fatality and serious injury risk to vulnerable users,” by which the bill chiefly means pedestrians and bicyclists).

Brownsberger, a bicyclist, said the bill is designed to try to prevent certain common collisions.

“Some of the most tragic accidents have occurred when large vehicles started up and could not see people on the street around them. Other tragic accidents have occurred when people have been caught by the sideways sweeping motion of longer trucks when they turn,” Brownsberger said in a post on his web site dated Wednesday, December 27, the day both the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives passed the final version of the bill.

A previous version of the bill passed both chambers of the state legislature on September 12, 2022, but Governor Baker on September 22 sent it back to the legislature with recommended changes.

Specifically, Baker objected to a provision in the previous version of the bill that would have required drivers to leave at least 3 feet of passing distance if travelling 30 miles an hour or less and an additional foot for every additional 10 miles per hour. Baker called that formula “confusing for motorists and difficult to enforce for local police.”

Instead, Baker called for a 3-foot standard regardless of speed. The final version of the bill sets the distance at 4 feet, so Baker has a decision to make on that score.

Baker also called for delaying consideration of changes to speed limits until after federal highway officials complete their current review of Massachusetts road safety devices.

The governor can sign the bill into law or kill it either by vetoing it or by declining to sign it before the current legislative session ends on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.

Baker’s time as governor is scheduled to end at noon Thursday, January 5, 2023. That’s when Maura Healey, a Democrat, replaces him.

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