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Mansfield resident and avid cyclist Steve Davis rides his bike. Under the new state law that takes effect April 1, motorists are required to stay at least four feet away from “vulnerable users” of the road when passing.

A new law requires cyclists to use rear facing red lights at night but many cyclists use them during daylight hours for safety.

Mansfield resident and avid cyclist Steve Davis rides his bike. Under the new state law that takes effect April 1, motorists are required to stay at least four feet away from “vulnerable users” of the road when passing.

A new law requires cyclists to use rear facing red lights at night but many cyclists use them during daylight hours for safety.

Steve Davis of Mansfield has been riding a bicycle for 35 years and he knows how it feels to be hit by a car.

He was riding down a street several years ago when a car passed him and the driver turned right in front of him.

“I didn’t have time to stop. I want right over her quarter panel,” Davis, 59, said, adding that he ended up in the hospital and spent some time walking with a pair of crutches.

Davis, who rode 6,000 miles last year and has driven his bicycle in 25 consecutive Pan Mass Challenges, also knew an Olympian rider who was killed when she was struck by a driver in Canada.

Come spring, there will be some new rules of the road for drivers sharing space with bicyclists, pedestrians, runners and others that advocates say will help prevent injury and deaths.

Under the new state law that takes effect April 1, motorists are required to stay at least four feet away from “vulnerable users” of the road when passing by them.

The law defines “vulnerable users” as “a pedestrian, including a person engaged in work upon a way or upon utility facilities along a way or engaged in the provision of emergency services within the way.”

It also includes “a person operating a bicycle, handcycle, tricycle, skateboard, roller skates, in-line skates, non-motorized scooter, wheelchair, electric personal assistive mobility device, horse, horse-drawn carriage, motorized bicycle, motorized scooter, or other micromobility device, or a farm tractor or similar vehicle designed primarily for farm use.”

The law was signed by former Gov. Charlie Baker as he was headed out the door of the Statehouse, ending his last term as governor. It had been pushed by advocates for safe roads for about a decade.

“We’re super excited it finally passed and is now the law," said Galen Mook, executive director of bicycling advocacy group MassBike. "I think it allows kind of a new conversation about road safety.”

MassBike was one of the groups that has been trying to get the legislation passed.

“I think it will go a long way toward making our roaders safer and prevent fatal crashes across the state,” Mook said.

The law does not specify any fines for violating the four-foot passing requirement. But Mook said the point of the law, in addition to preventing tragedies, is to increase awareness about sharing space on the road.

“I hope this is not used as an enforcement tool but as an educational tool,” Mook said.

He acknowledged that it would be difficult for a police officer to exactly measure or determine the four foot distance in the event of a violation.

Davis agrees that enforcement is really not the goal of the law.

“I just hope it creates general awareness among drivers and cyclists of the responsibility we have to each other to share the road. It goes both ways,” Davis said.

“I don’t want a 3,000-pound motor vehicle hitting the back tire of my bicycle and injuring or killing me,” Davis said.

His bicycle is now equipped with a radar detector on his rear flashing red light. Davis said the device alerts him to when a car or cars are approaching through a small computer on his handlebars.

Ken Downing, owner of DB Sports in North Attleboro, a longtime marathon runner who recently switched to cycling, also has safety on his mind when riding.

“I’m glad they passed the law but it sounds like it’s something that is going to be hard to enforce,” Downing said.

An Attleboro resident who lives near LaSalette Shrine, Downing said he prefers to ride his bicycle on the country roads of nearby Rehoboth where there is less traffic.

In addition, Downing already has a flashing red light on the rear of his bike as well as a flashing white light on the front.

He said he also wears bright clothing when he goes riding and has a clipped on mirror on his glasses so he can see traffic behind him.

“It increases your safety,” Downing said.

There are several sections of the law besides the passing rule which are all designed to prevent fatal crashes.

The law also requires bicyclists to use rear red lights and large state vehicles to have backup cameras and other safety features installed. It also makes it easier for municipalities to petition to change speed limits on state-owned roads.

Yet another section of the law requires trucks owned or leased by the state to install devices by the close of this year that make it easier for drivers to see vulnerable road users and side guards to prevent cyclists and others from being run over. Trucks contracted by the state must have the same safety features in place by 2025.

The section was passed in reaction to the death of a 71-year-old bicyclist killed by a truck in Boston in the summer.

Last year, 430 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes in the state, including 10 bicyclists and 99 pedestrians, according to a state database.

That’s more people killed than the 418  in 2021 and 336 in 2019.

The most recent fatal crash in the Attleboro area occurred in Foxboro on Nov. 26 when a 57-year-old pedestrian, Michael Shaw of Foxboro, died at a Boston hospital after being struck by a car on Cocasset Street near Oak Street in Foxboro.

Foxboro police are seeking a hearing by a Wrentham District Court clerk-magistrate to determine whether there is enough evidence to issue charges against the driver of the car, according to a spokesman for the Norfolk County district attorney’s office.

The new four-foot passing rule for vulnerable users will be taught in driver education classes. The law also requires the state Department of Transportation to install new street signage about the rule.

David Linton may be reached at 508-236-0338.

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