The fact that it's rarely enforced (there have been some people that have had success with video), doesn't mean it's not a law and only some ephemeral common sense guideline. Would the flag cause problems if encountering other cyclists? Maybe. I think some sort of pivot so he could have it sideways and then lock it into an upright position when he didn't need it would probably be useful.

By my estimation there are three problems with enforcing the Arizona safe passing law.

1. No measurement of passing clearance is typically recorded. My flag is a 3-foot measuring device in addition to an aid in visibility.

2. Without some sort of evidence, the unsafe pass winds up being a case of driver's word against the cyclist's. This is what a video camera can help.

3. The law has no teeth unless a cyclist is injured or killed. I think a violation of the law may still be grounds for a reckless driving charge but I am not a lawyer.

PS. It sure is nice to know that Arizona places such a high value on my life.

from bicycleaustin
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One cyclist tied this bright noodle to the back of his bike, exactly the width of his handlebars, to show drivers how much space he takes up on the road.[/TD]
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Take the whole lane when appropriate.

It's often safer to take the whole lane, or at least ride a little bit to the left, rather than hug the right curb. Here's why:

• Cars at intersections ahead of you can see you better if you're squarely in the road rather than on the extreme edge where you're easily overlooked.
• Taking the lane prevents cars from passing you too closely on narrow roadways.
• Riding a bit to the left prevents you from being a victim of the door prize.

You might worry about slowing down the traffic behind you if you take the lane. But if you're on the kind of street where you've got cars blocked up behind you or constantly changing lanes to get around you, you're probably on the wrong street and should find a quieter neighborhood street.
Taking the lane works especially well in most traffic circles. The traffic generally moves slower so it's easy to keep up, riding in the lane makes you more visible to motorists, and taking the lane prevents motorists from right hooking you as they exit the circle.
It's perfectly legal for you to take the lane when appropriate. Texas State Law (and the laws of most other states) says you have to ride as far to the right as is "practicable". Here are some things that make it impracticable to ride to the extreme right:

1. You're in a heavy traffic area with lots of side streets, parking lots, or driveways ahead and to your right. Cars turning left won't see you because they're looking for traffic in the middle of the road, not on the extreme edge of the road. Move left. See Collision diagram #1 above.
2. Cars are passing you too closely. If the lane is too narrow for cars to pass you safely, then move left and take the whole lane. Getting buzzed by cars is dangerous.
3. Cars are parked on the right-hand side of the road. If you ride too close to these you're gonna get doored when someone gets out of their car. Move left.

There are risks to both riding to the extreme right as well as taking the lane. Whether you ride to the right or take the lane depends on the conditions of the roadway you're on. On wide roadways with few intersections/driveways, right further right. On narrow roads with lots of intersections, ride farther to the left. It's not always better to take the lane or to hug the curb; it depends on the roadway you're on.

I don't think this would work well here for my riding because some of it is through tight spots. However, it sounds like it would work well on your commute on open highways. Good luck with it! My suggestion for the design would be, if it isn't to hard, to put it on a hinge of some sort so you can raise it straight up if you need to be narrower.

Your idea is absolutely fantastic.

The best thing is that bike riders will also need to give you 3 FT.

I'd say a whizzer on the end would be also great fun.

Nice idea. If you get buzzed too often, by all means use the flag. I couldn't use it here due to too many other cyclists, and I wouldn't because there are narrow, slow streets where I really don't mind cars passing me with less than 3'. But being fine with 1.5' at 10 mph delta (me 20 mph, car 30 mph) doesn't mean being fine with 1.5' at 60 mph!

Actually it is the LAW in many states.

LC

Yeah - obviously like the laws that state that riding side by side on a bije path is illegal, that cyclists should NOT be wearing earphones, that stop signs and other traffic signals are for ALL traffic including cyclists, and that lights are a requirement at night for your own safety.

The real problem is that since cyclists are currently excempt from requiring a driver's license and registration - many assume they're exempt from anything and everything - thats the only real behavior that can be considered 'stupid'.

Count me as one who likes the idea. I'd even gone so far as to consider getting a dandelion digger, with that lovely two-pronged metal end, and bungeeing that to my rear rack to deter buzz-by's. This is much more polite.

I bet you could rig a real simple pulley system to a friction bar end lever or similar that would move the flag from the 3ft out position to the typical upright position for safe passing by other cyclist/pedestrians.

It sounds like you wouldn't really need that feature for your ride but it might be a fun project for you or someone who likes the idea but sees more bikes and peds on their route.

I am always appalled at how little scientific, mechanical or intuitive logic resides in the middle classes of American society. The average European housewife could look at that flag and realize that a mechanism to lift it out of the way could never be operated by a thumbshifter. That same housewife (homemaker) would also realize that such a device is the antithesis of the bicycle ethic. A pedestrian walking around with bumpers on to delineate their "personal space" would quickly find themselves in a fistfight upon actually contacting another person with it as would inevitably happen. No matter how remote the setting, if it involves enough "close" situations to require a device like a side marker flag in the first place, would also see that side marker flag inadvertently contact another fixed or moving object or person. More to the point, the rider would forget to raise the flag when it needs raising most. It would happen. I have never understood the wisdom of car topping bicycles around so I would never do it, but... now that I am in a club and get to talk to lots of riders, when I hear about the many, many, many instances of driving into the garage with thousands of dollars worth of tandem strapped to the roof.... to say nothing of the thousands of dollars worth of damage done to the garage facing and door mechanisms... this is even after a previous incident and a warning sign on the garage door to check for bike on car roof... CRUNCH!... well after all that you realize how fallible human memory and situational response is... anyone who has posted in this thread about the at will retraction and deployment of such a thing as a side clearance marker is completely and fundamentally in denial about the human psyche. It ain't gonna happen. That flag will be out there waving just when you would rather it not be... FWIW.

H

if I was a drunk redneck I'd see that as a target and challenge to tap with my mirror. just too tempting

Put the flag on a pivot and have a cable attached that when its pulled would move the flag up. A spring would help return it to the down position when tension on the cable is released.

That's pretty simple stuff. I'm sure you could probably manage to rig something like that up if you used some of that grey matter for something other than turding all over the place.

I'm not the one interested in rigging something up like that. For the main reason that no amount of rigging is going to compensate for the complete lack of prescience in the human animal. IOW when you realize you ought to raise the flag, the flag should have been raised 4 seconds prior... now what? Is that so hard to understand? Really, read my post again, its all in there. But since you are thinking about it, the way to accomplish the task is to put the flag on a pivot. Raise and lower the flag by direct force. Once you introduce mechanism, you need too much input at the user end to get much movement at the action end of the lever. Only direct application of arm force to the shaft of the flag will work. And... for the final time, the reason why that is a non-starter (won't work) is that it is inevitable that the flag will be up when you want it to be down, or down when you need it to be up. Murphy's Law. I'm smart, but Murphy was even smarter. KISS. Just saying.

H

Not all of us are as slow and dim witted as you might be.

Interesting concept. I am trying to think of things that can go wrong. What about if the flag gets caught on lets say the grill of a passing car.

Will it break away or are you getting pulled down and dragged?

Now if you would just put a sign on the back saying "Wide Load"...

See "Flash Flag" for prior art.

https://www.flashback.ca/flashflags.html

my left drop bar strobe keeps cars further away and dramatically reduced the # of buzz attacks

I like the idea of the 3' side flag as an informational, awareness event. IE, all cyclist in the city using it one day.
However, it seems a bit cumbersome for every day use to me. It'd be in the trees on the MUP, dragging on one of the bridges. It'd be pointless on the bike lanes and narrow downtown streets. Only on the two-lane road in suburbia would it be an advantage - for me.

Wasn't there some bike light that claimed to shine a line on the road 3 feet from the side of the bike a year or so back?

yeah that was cool, for nites ...

hausfrau

just use the EU certified Safety Wing.

why do you guys make this huge fuss over 3ft (you could squeeze a bidirectional cycle lane in 1m of space!)

https://bikepgh.org/mb/topic/safety-wing/

on amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/CRSWING-Safety...ds=safety+wing

A consideration given some previous thought. My mount will swivel forward under friction and the flag mast can be pulled free of it.