Oregon lawmakers confirmed Monday that a bike lane still exists when interrupted by an intersection, despite the absence of paint on the roadway.

The Oregon Senate voted Monday to clarify the state’s definition of a bike lane, adding language that the lane “exists in an intersection if the bicycle lane is marked on opposite sides of the intersection in the same direction of travel.”

The Senate’s approval comes on the heels of the House of Representative’s thumbs up last month.

The bill marks a significant victory for bicycling advocates who have pushed for what they said was common sense legislation for years and called it their top priority in the 2019 legislative session.

Motorists must yield to cyclists who are riding through an intersection before turning.

According to the nonprofit bicycling and pedestrian nonprofit advocacy group The Street Trust, in two previous cases judges determined drivers who hit bicyclists had not violated any right of way laws because bike lanes didn’t exist in an intersection.

Ted Light, a member of The Street Trust who pushed for the clarifying language to State Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland, said in a statement the lawmaker and the nonprofit made the bill happen. “When I read that a cyclist was killed and the driver citation was thrown out under this ridiculous line of reasoning, I knew something had to be done,” Light said.

A bicyclist was struck and killed in Bend in 2018 by a FedEx truck driver. A Deschutes County Circuit Court judge determined in that crash that the cyclist was in an intersection and wasn’t protected by a bike lane.

According to Bike Portland, the second case cited was from 2009. The cyclist suffered a shoulder injury and road rash. A Multnomah County Circuit Court judge determined the driver wasn’t liable for failing to yield to a rider in a bike lane.

The bill heads to Gov. Kate Brown’s desk to sign into law.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen

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