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Duck hunter capsizes kayak, drowns
Bikers, highway workers, cow herders, bicyclists (pedal-powered and motorized), wheelchair users, and just plain pedestrians are now considered ‘vulnerable users’ and motorists must give them at least a four-foot wide berth when passing, per state law.
On July 1, a new law went into effect in Vermont to protect vulnerable users on our roads. The law requires motorists to pass a vulnerable user at a distance of at least 4 feet, Drive Well Vermont state officials say.
Per statute, vulnerable users are defined as any of the following:
• A pedestrian;
• An operator of highway building, repair, or maintenance equipment or of agricultural equipment;
• A person operating a wheelchair or other personal mobility device, whether motorized or not;
• A person operating a bicycle or other nonmotorized means of transportation (such as roller skates, rollerblades, or roller skis);
• A person operating a motor-assisted bicycle or an electric bicycle; or
• A person riding, driving, or herding an animal.
For more information visit Safe Streets for All.
The AOT announcement about the new law on its Facebook page incited some online criticsm.
“The Law should have gone further that dictates that Bicyclists need to ride in single file as close to the right side of the road safety as possible. If a paved side shoulder ride in it, single file. If there is a wide breakdown lane then okay to ride size by side. Not too late to admend the law to make it safer for all that use the road.
Another commenter said: “Respectfully, was the person who wrote this law even from here? it’s not that i’m opposed, but there are an awful lot of very narrow roads in Vermont.”
And a third said: “How about we make the bicycles obey the laws of the road, they don’t stop for stop signs, if a school bus is dropping or picking up students they fly thru the reds , they zig zag like drunks.”
Duck hunter drowns
A kayaking duck hunter drowned in a Williamstown pond last weekend, state police say.
The Vermont State Police is investigating a presumed drowning involving Steven Jones, 30, of Brookfield, who was last seen Sunday afternoon in Rood Pond in Williamstown after his kayak overturned. Search crews recovered a body Monday morning, Oct. 14 that is believed to be his.
Police were notified of the incident at about 5:35 p.m. Sunday after witnesses heard yelling from the pond and saw the overturned kayak. Jones was reported to have been on the water to go duck hunting and was dressed in warm clothing but was not wearing a life vest. This incident does not appear suspicious.
Recovery efforts Monday involved the Vermont State Police Underwater Recovery Team, which located the body in the water at about 11 a.m. The body was brought to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for confirmation of identity and an autopsy to determine cause and manner of death.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact VSP’s Berlin Barracks at 802-229-9191.
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Categories: Outdoors, Transportation
It is just more liberal nonsense, motor vehicle operators obey the rules of the road but this ” NEW ” four-foot law is pure BS….. and here’s why, as you are only updating
for bicyclists, everything else you mention is nothing new to motorists.
The Agency Of Transportation has allocated bike lanes everywhere, cities & towns have also painted bike lanes on almost every street, and there lies problem number one, these bike lanes have taken up a minimum of two feet of road space and have not added any width to the road to allow for this and now you want an additional two feet for the ” four feet ” for caution !! I think I pay enough ” gas tax, registration, and insurance to ride these roads. As far as ” vulnerable users ” as defined above I believe you don’t need to elaborate, we understand and know what to do.
Secondly, there are a few ” Real ” bicyclists who obey the rules of the road along with wearing safety gear, and having lights on their bikes, but that’s probably only 10% so “thanks” to those who care about safety, and understand the rules of the road, and it shows.
All of the other just don’t give a ” Sxitz ” about any rules, they are in and out of traffic, not stopping for signs or lights. if you peep at the well, you’ll get the bird, or be told to go F yourself, as they play whack-a-mole with traffic that includes scooters, and skateboards ” electric or not ” ……………… and your warning motor vehicle operators.
AOT, you may want to revise your policy, you’ve missed a lot of non-compliance operators on these roads, I had to take a test to be on the , did they ???
This reminds me of a supposedly true story about a ship pilot guiding a ship into a port . It seems that a sailboat crossed in front of this large, ocean going ship, and the sailboater hollered at the pilot “I have right of way” ! The ship’s pilot hollered back at the sail boater, “that will make a fitting epitaph on your grave stone, He had right of way!” It is my belief that these laws will embolden people to do stupid things because they know they have been given preferential status on the roads . I offer an incident that I had a few weeks ago. I was on a class 3 road in East Montpelier headed home when upon rounding a blind corner by the Hall farm I met another motorist stopped, talking to a bicyclist in the on coming lane stopped approximately 4′ from his side of of the road stopped talking to a motorist approximately 4′ from the bicyclist also heading in my direction. Do the math considering that this incident happened on a narrow class 3 road, and around a sharp, blind corner, and I hope you can see that if it had been another motorist going anything approaching the posted speed limit, (35 mph) this situation could have had a different outcome, but this is an example of people feeling safe because “they have right of way”. “Right of way” does not protect one from acting stupidly ! Use your head !
There are the laws of traffic and then there are the laws of physics. One can be violated with little or no consequence, but the others cannot…
Now, if a crazy bicyclist is taking up their share of the road by riding on the road middle stripe, how can there be four feet separation? It happened to me in Brattleboro on Rt 30 going north. Blasted my horn and got a finger. I have a F350 diesel biggie vehicle that takes room. If an 18 wheeler were in the same spot, Rt 30 would be known as flat bike highway.
I’ve read stories wherein a person lost their driving license and drove a motorized lawn tractor to town to shop. Another driving problem. In the poor state of Vt, more people may be riding lawn mowers / tractors.
As someone who has biked an awful lot in my life, the absolute worst was that driver who would hang out behind you, waiting for a chance to pass. The cyclist wants nothing more than the room to run on the roads about running into obstacles while the cars behind them. They have to keep checking over their shoulder and they have to stay as tight to the side of the road as possible.
Every biking situation I come into now I have to slow down behind the person and wait for oncoming traffic to be out of the way so I can give them their 4 ft of room. So by law you’ve made every driver out there the most annoying driver possible for a cyclist.
Just once I’d like these people in Montpelier to know how anything works.
So Brian, I understand from your comment that you would rather have me blow by you without regard road conditions allowing me to pass you safely. And on another note what about the bicycle that is going against traffic? How can you give them room in the face of oncoming traffic?
No I’m saying that by putting a measurement on it of 4 ft, something that’s unattainable without going into the other lane what you’ve really done is cause someone to either hang back, break the law or do something dangerous and stupid. Whereas normally we just passed when it was safe for us and the bicycle. It has always been illegal to hit a biker or run them off of the road.
I’m not sure what to say about biking into oncoming traffic. It’s not something I normally advocate for.
23 V.S.A. § 1139 says “Bicyclists generally shall ride as near to the right side of the improved area of the highway right-of-way as is safe, except that a bicyclist:”
Remember, you can’t outlaw stupidity, but stupid people can make laws.
Four feet, huh? Why not three? Why not five? Why not six, seven, or eight? Five through eight are larger, and therefore safer than four, correct? Why not call it a cow-width? After all, we’re all familiar with cows, right?
What happens if you get a ticket for passing “too close”? How would the ticketer know it was three and a half feet? Maybe it was four foot two. Do they have to take a class? A webinar? Are all car passes monitored by lasers? Is there an “imaginary line”?
What’s the responsibility of the biker? Does one still have to allow four feet if the biker is three feet into the road? Doesn’t the biker have some responsibility in all of this? What if the road curves? What if the biker is a bit “wobbly”? Then what?
And just who was it that (I’m sure) spent gobs of money determining that four feet was “just right”?
Probably the same demonrat rocket surgeon who came up with the six foot “safety” rule for fauxvid, that’s who.
Now , if you are driving down the road with a loaded tractor trailer loaded full of gas and you are eight feet wide in a twelve foot wide road, this will put you on the center of the road with this four foot requirement. Got to hope the truck coming at you in the other lane is not doing the same thing.
Ninety nine percent I actually give four feet or more when passing a biker or dog walker. BUT when three bikers or three walkers brazenly walk well into the driving lane and refuse to give some curtsey and I’m way on the wrong side of the road with oncoming traffic there has to be a limit. I pay car insurance you know.
Which brings me to one of my very annoying pet peeves, that being when someone feels obligated to give wide berth to someone in their lane of travel, also feels that it is MY problem and as such has NO problem crossing into the oncoming lane, forcing me to stop, pull over or both to let THEM pass. Apparently they’re too busy to stop and and wait UNTIL it is safe for them to cross the the yellow line, but think that I’ve got all the time in the world for them! The next time you’re doing this and you get a long horn blast and very little quarter, it’s probably me!
Again like I said…I pay car insurance you know. In that case I’d stop and hope the pedestrians in my lane would understand and walk around the right side of my car.
I have always given a wide berth to anyone be it a cop or a tire changer or a pedestrian a dog walker and especially a horse and rider. It did not require a law to cause me to do this. Only common sense. The other day on Rt 103 south in Chester Vt. a town policeman had a car pulled over. As I approached I hugged the center line and kept my speed at 30 MPH , that is 75% of the posted limit. As I came upon the cruiser the door flew open and a big dumb cop jumped out in his best acting performance. I say dumb because there was no , no , no pressing reason to put yourself in such a position. This is not the first time I have witnessed this behavior. I have spent a lifetime on the road as a commercial driver. I continue to drive commercially part time. I have had many close encounters with traffic and one thing I have learned is to trust no one. Always be alert and never put yourself in a risky position. Also if there is a problem in your lane it is your responsibly to deal with it. The traffic in the unobstructed lane has the right of way. If everyone followed these common sense concepts it would make life much simpler.
I wish everyone at the grocery store would just keep to the right as well. If you need something across the isle just leave your cart on the right and walk across and get it. Would make shopping much easier for everyone.