A more active Legislative session than usual, with one good win, one that got our hopes up before it went down, and a number that failed but seemed to get a little closer to passing than ever before.
The win was with Senate Bill 546, which was patroned in masterful fashion by Senator John Edwards of Roanoke, and sailed all the way through both houses, with hardly a hitch. This bill specifically mentions the railroads as a landowner with limited liability when they permit recreational users to cross their owned, or easement acquired, property for recreational purposes. Though primarily pushed for by the paddlers and fishermen, and spearheaded by Roanoke’s Bill Tanger of the Friends of the Rivers of Virginia, VBF joined the coalition of groups supporting this bill in order to help the railroads remove the “liability” argument they have often used when access along, or across, their tracks has been requested.
We got our hopes up with the major bills we were working on which would change the Code of Virginia to require that motor vehicles pass a bicycle by three feet (instead of the present two feet) and not follow a bicycle any closer than is “reasonable and prudent”. Senate Bill 566, patroned by Senator Patsy Ticer of Alexandria, sailed right through the Senate, after the “following too closely” provision was objected to and stricken in the Senate Transportation Committee. However, upon crossing over to the House it was assigned to the Militia, Police, and Public Safety Sub-Committee, where it was tabled by a 2-1 vote. The companion bill, House Bill 1048, patroned by Delegate Kaye Kory of Falls Church, actually survived a more difficult start, being reported out of a House Transportation Sub Committee by a 5-2 vote, out of the House Transportation Committee by a 12 – 9 vote, and then failing on the House floor by 54 – 43. This was a big let down since it was obvious that the bill would have cleared the Senate had it only survived this hurdle.
Other bills that we have supported previously, and again saw go down to defeat, were both the House (which didn’t get out of the Transportation Sub-Committee) and Senate (which passed the Senate, only to fail in the same House Sub-Committee after it crossed over) versions of “Stop for Pedestrians in Marked Cross-Walks”. Also failing, but getting further along than ever before, were several bills to ban the use of cell phones, except in hands free mode, by the drivers of moving motor vehicles.
Two other bills for which I testified were defeated rather early in the process. One which was sought by the Motorcycle interests, but which named bicycles also, would have permitted motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles to cross a red light traffic signal, with caution, if they had waited 120 seconds and the light did not turn green. I supported the bill, but mildly so, since I didn’t feel it was a major problem for cyclists. The other was a bill I opposed, which would have banned mopeds from all highways with speed limits of 45 mph or above, and I was concerned that this might lead to bicycles being banned from some roads also, if it were to pass.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all the RABA members, VBF members, and others across the state, who responded to my requests to contact their legislators in advance of the hearings for the bills we were supporting. Several legislators and their staff told me how they were impressed by the quantity and passionate nature of our contacts. It does make an impression and lets our elected representatives know that someone is interested in the issues we are supporting. I would also like to thank Bruce Drees of the Tidewater Bicycling Assn., who made several early morning trips up from Virginia Beach to lend his support to the cause. We did make some progress this session, and will be back again next year to try to keep moving the ball forward.
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