As we reported earlier, the Careless Driving portions of SB 566 and HB 1048 didn’t make it through committee. As Bud Vye reports today, legislators didn’t see the need for it, but they seem sympathetic to our cause:

Regarding the Careless Driving, both Ryan McDougle and Creigh Deeds made it clear to me that they felt it wasn’t needed; that Reckless Driving would have been the proper charge in the Daniel Hersh case; and that they were surprised that the Va Beach Comm. Atty didn’t feel that he could make such a charge, since that is almost an automatic charge in a case like that. I intend to discuss this further with them, since they are both sympathetic to the problem and both are attorneys.

A glimmer of hope, perhaps.

Long meeting in Senate Transportation Committee today. Started a little after 2, adjourned just before 6.

Unlucky for Bruce Drees of Tidewater Bicycling Assn., who had made the trip up from VA Beach, only to see our bill be the very last one on the docket. I commend him for hanging in until the very end, and for his testimony before the committee. Champe was also in attendance for a while, but bailed out before our bill was called.

After 2 1/2 hours with very little of interest to us, except for the reporting of a seat belt bill that will require ALL occupants of a vehicle (not just the front seats, as now) to be buckled up, and Sen. Norment’s SB517, (by a 10 – 5 vote) which will ban Cell Phone use in motor vehicles, except in the hands free mode, it was finally Sen. Ticer’s turn.

First, it was announced that HB1048, the similar House 3 foot passing bill to Ticer’s SB 566, would be rolled into SB566, so that only 566 will now be active. I regard this as good news, since I would rather see the bill go through the Senate first, where if we make it through we may be able to go directly to House Transportation, without having to clear the additional hurdle of a small Sub-Committee. [continue reading…]

As Bud reported, the House and Senate versions of this bill have been merged, and we now have a single three feet to pass bill, SB 566, without the careless driving or tailgating sections. It’s out of committee, and awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. Please contact your senator now, and ask them to vote for SB 566, “three feet to pass bicycles.” You can find your Senator’s contact info at the General Assembly’s Who’s My Legislator page.

“Three feet to pass” laws are gaining steam nationwide. At least 14 states have enacted them so far, with more on the way.

SB 566 is the Senate version of Virginia’s own three feet legislation, but it also outlaws tailgating, and creates a new Class 3 misdemeanor of Careless Driving — to counter the difficulty of charging motorists with Reckless Driving when they kill or injure cyclists. This bill, along with the House version HB 1048, are the most directly relevant to cyclists in Virginia this year.

SB 566 will be heard tomorrow morning in committee, and it needs your support now. If your legislator is on the Senate Transportation Committee, please email or call them tonight, or first thing in the morning, and tell them to support SB 566.

Please pass this along via email and social media, especially to your bike club mailing lists.

House Transportation Sub Committee 2 started promptly at 7 a.m., with Chairman Carrico stating that they had many bills to consider so he urged everyone to be brief and non-repetitive since he wasn’t above scheduling next week’s meeting for 6 a.m. if we didn’t clear today’s docket by 8:30.

First up was HB810 which increases the maximum length of TRIPLE SADDLE MOUNT combinations permitted on VA highways. After the patron explained that this was NOT Triple Trailers, and that such a rig was used primarily by manufacturers such as Volvo to transport multiple tractors and chassis to distributors, and was permitted by the Federal Dept. of Transportation, the bill was REPORTED unanimously.

A little later came HB 752, which was being pushed strongly by the Motorcycle Assn., that would permit motorcycles, bicycles, and mopeds to proceed cautiously through a red light which didn’t turn green after two cycles or 2 minutes. [continue reading…]