Rob Simmons is one of those cops who loves cyclists. He has been a recreational rider for years and is currently a bike patrol cop in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where police officers have been using groundbreaking new technology to explain cyclists’ rights to oblivious drivers.



More than 20 states have a law requiring drivers to allow at least three feet of clearance when passing cyclists, yet those laws are rarely enforced. However, in Chattanooga, Simmons spends chunks of his day chasing down lawbreakers on his bike, showing them just how close they came to him on his bar-mounted GoPro camera and explaining the law.



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Thanks to a device called the Bicyclist and Safe Monitoring Applied Radar Technology (BSMART), developed by Codaxus, LLC, Simmons knows to the inch exactly how close drivers come to him. All of the drivers who he pulls over are given educational pamphlets, and those who haven’t learned their lesson get tickets and can be sent to a 90-minute “Cycling 101” class with Outdoor Chattanooga for re-education.



Chattanooga’s use of the BSMART is the first for this purpose in the US, and reports indicate that the device will be making other appearances worldwide soon.



We chatted with Officer Simmons about his own cycling involvement and and how his patrols have been running.



How long have you been on bike patrol, and do you ride recreationally, too?

I have been a police officer for 12 years and have been on full-time bike patrol for seven of those years. I have ridden recreationally for as long as I can remember, but my interest in cycling grew when I was accepted onto the Bike Patrol Team.



Soon after I joined the team, I became an International Police Mountain Biking Association (IPMBA) certified instructor and began training and certifying other police officers around the Southeast concerning proper policing on a bicycle.



My personal interest started with mountain biking and is slowly transitioning over to road biking. I just don't recover like I use to!



How have drivers responded to the enforcement of the three-foot passing rule?

Truthfully, no one LIKES enforcement. It is, by nature, a hard pill to swallow. What has surprised me is finding out that the majority of the motorists whom I have stopped for violations have been unfamiliar with the three-foot law. Many know there are laws regarding proximity to cyclists, but they don't know how far they need to be away from the cyclists.



It is even more surprising that I often have to explain why cyclists may ride in the roadway and not only on the sidewalk. This is the reason why I raised money locally to create a “Pocket Guide to Cycling Laws” and always pass them out to violators—motorists and cyclists alike.



My enforcement has never been about citations or fines. I believe that educating motorists will generate better results. If I walk away from a traffic stop knowing that the driver is more knowledgeable of cyclists’ rights, then I rarely write a ticket.



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Do you think bike patrol officers generally make interactions among cyclists, traffic and police better?

I think so. When dealing with other cyclists—yes, I stop cyclists for traffic laws, too—we immediately have something in common. The cyclist knows that I have been in their shoes and can see what it is like to be in traffic from their perspective. On the flip side, they also know they are not going to pull one over on me when it comes to cycling laws.



I have worked many collisions involving cyclists and motorists and have seen the look of concern on cyclists’ faces when they are unsure if law enforcement is going to know the rights they have in the roadway. When they realize it is a bike patrol officer working the crash, they tend to relax a little more.



One reason why I developed a 13-page guide for law enforcement officers in my department and across Tennessee is to bring to light little known laws when it comes to cyclists and their rights. Our department adopted the guide and distributed it as required training last year.



What do you think of the new tech that you're using?

I couldn't be happier. Last year, I reached out to other departments all over the country and asked them how they enforced the three-foot laws. Almost every one of them responded that it was “impossible".



To have an officer to judge a three-foot distance—often from a long distance away—is difficult. When that officer has to prove his case in court, he must admit that he is human and could have calculated the distance in his head inaccurately. This prompted me to want a data-driven device that I could use in court to prove the distance beyond a reasonable doubt.



I was lucky enough to get in contact with Christopher Stanton of Codaxus Inc. Although hundreds of miles apart, we had both been trying to come up with the same solution to this problem. With his engineering and electronic skills and my knowledge of law enforcement requirements for court, he was able to build the C3FT Version 2 that we are using today. Many other departments have been hearing of the device and are contacting Codaxus to order them.



The BSMART has performed flawlessly. I test it before each enforcement effort, and it has never given an incorrect distance, no matter the size or speed of the passing vehicle. This is exciting for the bicycling community, and I am honored to be a part of helping develop it. It is the first device of its kind in the world. That is pretty cool.



One other thing of note: A local cycling advocacy group, The Friends of Outdoor Chattanooga, purchased our device for the City. Last year, I explained to them about the device that I wanted Christopher Stanton to make for us, and they fully funded it and have made it available for any local law enforcement agency to use.



Why did the department decide to start this initiative?

Four years ago, a cyclist in Chattanooga, David Meek, was struck and killed by a passing vehicle. It opened my eyes as to the need for education and enforcement in our city.



The idea of the Safe Bicycling Initiative had been in my head, but it took several years of thinking about his death for it to transform into what our city needed as far as education. It was not until last year, when Chattanooga hired Fred Fletcher to be our new Chief of Police, that I finally dug in and explained my concerns about our cyclists' safety to him.



It turned out that Chief Fletcher was an avid cyclist and had led a similar initiative in Austin, Texas. He gave me his blessing and full support to create this initiative citywide. His forward thinking did not end there; a couple months after the start of the initiative, the Mayor of Chattanooga, Andy Berke, began plans to make the city multi-modal and started infrastructure changes by creating protected bike lanes and signage throughout the city.



In the past year, the city has progressed by leaps and bounds when it comes to protecting and promoting cycling. We are now a cycling city.



Are you the only cycling cop in your department, or are there others who ride for fun or work?

There are currently five full-time bike patrol officers. We will soon be 10 strong. There are also over 25 officers who are certified to ride on duty and are utilized during special events, such as the USA Cycling National Championships, which have been hosted in Chattanooga for the past three years, as well as the Ironman and Half Ironman.



Many of our bike-certified officers ride on their own time and have competed in our local Ironman and other races.

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