By Lenita Powers, Reno Gazette-Journal

Heads up, motorists.

If you’re passing someone riding a bicycle, you’d better keep at least 3 feet away or — as of this Saturday — you’ll be breaking the law.

Senate Bill 248 is one of two revisions to state laws the 2011 Legislature approved to make the roadways safer for bicyclists. Under Assembly Bill 328, the second revision known as the Vulnerable Highway Users Bill, motorists found at fault in a collision with a bicyclist or a pedestrian can be charged with reckless driving and face harsher penalties.

Both laws go into effect Saturday.

Sgt. Jim Stegmaier of the Reno Police Department said the law that previously required motorists to pass bicyclists at a safe distance was too vague, but the new 3-feet requirement specifically defines it.

“Everyone pretty much knows that a yardstick is 3 feet, and that’s roughly what we will use to judge,” Stegmaier said. “It’s going to be an eyeballing type of measurement. We won’t get down to inches, but if motorists brush too close, we will cite them.”

He said the fuzzy wording of the original statute would have been harder to enforce, but the 3-feet rule provides a concrete distance.

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