AUSTIN, Texas - Some say a few feet can make a world of difference.
Sheri Rothe loves getting around Austin on her bike, but a crash March 31 left her traumatized.
"It was definitely the most painful thing I've ever gone through in my life," said Rothe.
She said reminders of the crash continue to show every day.
"I have numbness in my face. I have three metal plates in my face because that is what broke. I broke my orbital floor in four places and my maxillary bone in one," said Rothe.
Rothe is among more than 400 Austinites who've been involved in a bicycle crash since the start of last year.
Three people have died. Even those that survive, like Rothe, can have extensive recoveries and live in fear.
"Anybody that is passing me that closely - it feels like they are basically pointing a gun in my face," said Rothe.
Austin Police created its bicycle safety enforcement program in 2013, and new devices will help them enforce the rules of the road.
A grant from the Bike Austin Education Fund covered the cost of two Codaxus devices, which are mounted to bicycles and use ultrasonic radar to measure distance. These devices are accurate down to the inch.
Cars must stay three feet away; trucks and buses must be six feet from a cyclist.
"You want to have this large vehicle pass you with plenty of room, so you are not maybe sucked in by their wind or you have the option to maneuver around obstacles that might be in the road," said Austin Police Officer Rheannon Cunningham.
Cunningham says the same rules apply for passing a motorcycle, pedestrian or road crew.
"It gives everybody that comfort of buffer to be safe," said Cunningham.
Because every statistic you see translates into very real people - people like Sheri Rothe.