New York State Assemblymember Amy Paulin (D-Westchester) announced in November that she will introduce a bill, called Merrill’s Law, requiring motorists to give cyclists three feet of clearance when passing. The announcement came after Westchester resident and cycling advocate Merrill Cassell was killed in a traffic collision in October.

Similar laws have been passed in many states. As MTR wrote when discussing a similar New Jersey bill, safe passing laws are important because they provide legal recourse after a collision and ensure that proper passing is taught in driver’s education classes, even if regular enforcement is rare.

Cassell, a 66-year-old former UNICEF budget director, was well known in the community. Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner, who attended Cassell’s funeral and rode in a memorial bike ride, will hold a meeting on December 9 in Greenburgh’s Town Hall Auditorium to discuss ways to improve cycling safety. The Westchester Biking and Walking Alliance (WBWA), which is advocating for Merrill’s Law, will memorialize Cassell with a ghost bike this Saturday at the site of the crash.

Ask Your Legislators to Sign On

Paulin is circulating a memo to her colleagues seeking additional sponsors for the safe passage bill prior to introduction, and the New York Biking Coalition has asked that cyclists contact their state legislators and urge them to sign on. WBWA reports that the bill has seven co-sponsors thus far.

To facilitate this process, Tri-State has launched an online action alert where New York residents can e-mail their State Assemblymember and Senator and ask them to sign on to support this important piece of legislation.

Image: Via Alan Snel’s Bicycle Stories blog. Florida, where this photo was taken, has a 3-foot passing law.