Update: HB 1048 has failed but three foot passing is still alive as SB 566. Please continue to write or call in support of SB 566.
After being reported out of Sub Committee yesterday by a 5-2 vote, HB1048, 3 foot passing & following too close, was reported out of the full House Transportation Committee this morning by a very tight 11-10 vote. Since the vote was electronically tallied and then taken down rather quickly, I’m not sure exactly who voted each way, but it appeared that all the D’s voted for the bill, joined by two or three R’s (which I think included Oder & Rust).
As in Sub Committee, there was even more discussion of how difficult it would be with the additional foot to legally pass a bicycle without going over the double center line on a two lane road. The strongest anti-cycling sentiment was expressed by Del. Cosgrove of Chesapeake, Del. Knight of Virginia Beach, who clearly voted against the bill, along with Del. Villanueva of Va Beach, even though the representative of that City and Bruce Drees of the Tidewater Bicycling Assn. both spoke in favor of it.
Now its on to the Full House floor (either on Saturday or Monday), where Chairman Joe May of Loudon (who also appeared to vote against the bill) wished our patron, Kaye Kory, a good-natured “Good luck on the floor” after he announced the result of the voting.
Now, we need EVERYONE to contact their delegate. If you don’t know who it is, you can find out at the VA General Assembly’s Who’s My Legislator page…
http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform
…and ask them to Support HB1048, 3 Foot Passing on the House floor, which will help educate motorists to give themselves a little more margin of error when passing a cyclist.
Please take the time to send this Email!
The House vote will be close, and every vote will be important.
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It’s pretty amazing how hung up they are on this “double yellow line” thing. As if it’s more important for motorists to obey the law by not crossing a painted line on the road, than it is for them to exercise extra caution and give another human being a little more room to avoid serious injury or death. Honestly, I always thought that motorists should NOT be passing cyclists if there was a double yellow line anyway. If it’s unsafe to pass a car, then it’s unsafe to pass a cyclist.