'Ellen's Law' coming to New Brunswick roads with 'lightning speed'

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SO glad the government finally saw the error in their ways of dragging their feet. Now the hard work begins. We are engaged in monthly meeting fort he next 6 months with governments officials to see what the rest of pieces look like and trying to build a comprehensive education plan.

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I urge you to include police agencies in that education plan.

Here in NS, everytime a cyclist tries to have a motorist charged using the 1-metre law, the police claim that they never heard of it. Even with video, the police just say that, “well, looks like you were too far from the road edge anyway.” Well, ok then, I guess I deserve having someone threaten me with a motor vehicle then.
Good to see, but good luck.

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The law states you ride as close to the right edge as practicable. Typically that’s about a half metre but the road conditions, obstacles, debris etc often mean you must ride farther from the edge for safety and efficiency, which is how I would define practicable. And obviously you must take the lane when turning left, passing a parked car, etc.

Unfortunately as cyclists we need to inform police of the relevant laws but eventually they will learn if taught.

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No question that as cyclists, we will still need to “defend” ourselves in the sense of what is considered as far to the right as we deem safe. I’m not a huge road rider but I am considering fixing a stick to the left side of my bike for a visual reference.

Rome was not built in a day and we cannot expect everyone to know all the laws, not be distracted, show respect to all road users. We are trying to change a culture.

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