The “Change Lanes for Bikes. It’s the Law!” initiative is led by Southern Nevada Bicycle Coalition in partnership with Skye Canyon, Southern Highlands, and Arista Wealth Management to raise awareness of Nevada’s 3-Feet/Move Over passing Law (NRS 484B.270). This education campaign is in response to the five cyclists who died on December 10, 2020, and to all cyclists who’ve been injured or killed by a motorist.

According to Nevada’s Division of Motor Vehicles, motorists passing a bicycle must move into an adjacent lane to the left, if possible. If not, the motorist must pass with a minimum of three feet of space between the vehicle and the bicycle. Motorists may be charged with reckless driving if they are at fault in any collision with a bicyclist or a pedestrian. Penalties include a driver’s license suspension.

Nevada is one of 35 states to enforce a 3-Feet law, and only one of five states to specify that motorists should move into an adjacent lane to the left if the lane is available when passing a cyclist. The campaign’s goal is to achieve zero collisions, ending traffic fatalities of cyclists.

According to the National Highway Traffic & Safety Administration, more cyclists perished in traffic accidents from 2016 to 2019 than in any three-year period in the last two decades. In Nevada, 35.6% of overall traffic fatalities are pedestrian and bicycle (The National Conference of State Legislatures). 

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Learn more about important Nevada traffic laws pertaining to bicycles/e-bicycles.

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