Sonar guns warn Ottawa drivers about new bike-passing law

[Ontario passed a law last September requiring drivers to give cyclists one metre of distance when passing them. CBC NEWS]

Ottawa is testing out a new tool to enforce a provincial law requiring drivers to keep a metre of distance between them and cyclists when passing.

Two police officers in the Canadian capital have new sonar devices attached to their bikes, the Ottawa Citizen reported. The devices are meant to detect if a car passes a bike with a distance between the two of less than one metre.

If the one-metre rule is breached, the device will sound an alarm.

On Thursday, Ottawa police were merely handing out flyers and having a chat with drivers who set off the detectors. But according to a law passed in Ontario in September, breaching the one-metre rule can result in a $180 fine and a loss of two demerit points for drivers in the province.

There was negative online reaction to the new rule and its pending enforcement. Some who commented on a CBC News video demonstrating the sonar device said that they’d be forced to cross into the centre line in order to provide the mandated one metre of room when passing.

“What if the 1 meter rule means cars have to risk driving into oncoming traffic or impeding flow? #Ottawa #cycling #sharetheroad,” tweeted David Bateman.

“With opposing traffic, the car HAS TO WAIT? Hello traffic jam. Cities need cycling infrastructure, not this kind of idiocy,” posted @anelicia.

Others wondered about enforcement in their own cities, given that the law is provincewide.

“The one metre rule is being enforced in @CityOttawa. What about @RegionWaterloo?,” tweeted Peter Dedes.

Earlier this year, the Queensland government in Australia permanently enacted a law that requires a one-metre barrier between vehicles and cars when passing. Politicians reported that there had been a drop in cyclist fatalities during the initial two-year period of the law.

And last month in Sussex in the United Kingdom, a petition was set up to ask for the enactment of a similar one-metre guideline for passing.