With the final blow delivered by a House transportation sub-committee to Senate Bill 566 this morning, the 2010 legislative session has effectively ended, sending Virginia’s cyclists home empty handed. In leading a statewide effort, the Virginia Bicycling Federation tried unsuccessfully to accomplish three objectives:
- Change the existing passing distance between a car and a bike from 2 to 3 feet.
- Change the existing “following too closely” law from applying to a motor vehicle following another motor vehicle to include motor vehicles following bicycles.
- Adoption of a “careless driving” law similar to several other states that required motor vehicle operators to exercise “due care and regard” for other roadway users. Note: this provision was withdrawn before it even got started when it became clear that it didn’t stand a chance.
These changes were spurred by a desire to bring state code in line with contemporary safe separation practices. In addition, we had hoped to make some progress in addressing incidents in recent years where Virginia’s criminal justice system turned its back on us. If you think that running over a bicyclist or pedestrian is illegal in Virginia, think again. The above legislation would not have totally fixed this, but the changes would have helped.
No comments:
Post a Comment