Alabama Lawmaker Plans Bill to Protect Bicyclists

An Alabama state senator wants to require drivers to stay three feet away from bicyclists after a recent fatal crash.

Republican state Sen. Arthur Orr of Decatur tells the Decatur Daily that he hopes lawmakers will approve a “three-foot bill” in 2015. Orr says he plans to introduce a bill if no one else does.

The issue has captured attention recently. Rufus Daniel Nix was charged in June with vehicular homicide in the death of Walter Dennis Ham. Police have said Ham was riding his bicycle on Upper River Road near Priceville in July 2013 when 85-year-old Nix struck him while driving.

Orr says any law’s goal should be education, not punishment. He says bicyclists and motorists have to share the road.