Seattle state Reps. Jamie Pedersen, Reuven Carlyle, Scott White, and Mary Lou Dickerson are among 18 co-sponsors of legislation that would require cars overtaking cyclists to stay three feet away from them. Current law only requires drivers to pass "at a safe distance," but that safe distance is not defined. According to 3FeetPlease, 13 states currently have laws requiring drivers to give cyclists at least three feet of room when passing.

In other bike-related legislative news, 24 legislators have signed on to a bill that would require all vehicle-detection systems at stoplights to be calibrated to detect bicycles and motorcycles within four years. This sounds like a minor point, but for those without cars, it's a huge annoyance: Currently, many traffic lights that are designed to turn green only when a vehicle approaches fail to detect bicycles or motorcycles, forcing riders to run red lights at their own risk.