Give Us 4 Feet - Local PSA Highlights

The Massachusetts mandatory 4-foot passing law for vulnerable road users has now been in effect for over a month and Bay State Bike Month is a great opportunity to bring more awareness to this new law. For example, on May 11, 2023, WalkBike Springfield is hosting a Bike Audit on the Roosevelt Ave Corridor, where they’ll be attaching 4-foot foam noodles to their bicycles to demonstrate the new law. Municipalities and local advocates across the commonwealth have been doing their part to put together educational 4-foot passing campaigns.

Concord

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The Town of Concord is using digital signage to help spread the word about the new 4-foot passing law. We appreciate their support of educating motorists about this new law and hope that other municipalities will follow their lead across the Commonwealth.

Martha’s Vineyard

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The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission got together to film a short PSA video demonstrating safe 4-foot passing.

Marc R. sent in this photo & note about the bike setup: "I built a rig on the back of my bike. The pool noodle is 4 feet long and the inner edge is at the same distance from the bike’s centerline as the left hand shifter. It can swing forward (in case it got hit). Anyway, here’s one oddball thing to carry on a bike!"

Millbury

Local cyclist, Steve S., worked with the Millbury police department to create magnetic bumper stickers about the four-foot passing law for police vehicles.

“As a cyclist, I contacted the local police chief to discuss a PSA campaign for vulnerable road user laws. We had a brief conversation and set up a meeting to review my ideas,” said Steve. “The artwork had to be removable and not cause damage or cover any windows. The police chief agreed, ordered magnetic stickers, and officers applied them to some SUVs. An officer promoted the campaign on Facebook. There has been an outpouring of community gratitude for the police department's efforts to promote public safety.”

Steve is willing to make the artwork available to other police departments or others to promote the four-foot passing law. For more information, go to www.ricepondvillage.com/vulnerable-road-user-magnetic-sign

 

Do you have an example of how your community is spreading the word about 4-foot passing? Let us know at [email protected] or tag us on social media @MassBike

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