(HB82) …Fails by an 11-4 vote upon reconsideration in Senate Transportation Committee this afternoon.

Despite a decent job of presenting the bill by our patron, Delegate Barbara Comstock of McLean, and strong support by Senators Dave Marsden of Fairfax & Ryan McDougle of Hanover, Sen. Carrico, our steadfast opponent of anything bicycling related, was able to steer the discussion over to his “unenforceability” argument, getting support for that point from Newman, Watkins, and Chairman Deeds himself.

After a decent amount of discussion, and several responses to questions by the State Police Rep to the effect that it was sometimes difficult to do so, but that it was as enforceable as a number of other laws, Sen. Newman of Lynchburg weighed in to the effect that it was primarily an Education problem and that he was suggesting that the bill be referred to some Accountability Commission that I am not familiar with, (and may have the name incorrect for).

With that referral agreed to on a voice vote, a motion to Pass the bill by carried by 11-4, with only Alexander, Favola, & Marsden, plus McDougle, voting against.

Now we have the “Three Foot Passing” bill before the House Transportation Committee tomorrow morning at 8:30, hopefully with better results. After that, I intend to see if I can find out what’s involved with the Commission the bill has been referred to, and thank Delegate Comstock for her efforts as Patron, Senator Alexander for his work in getting the bill reconsidered, and Senators Marsden, Favola & McDougle for their support.

As I look back through my disappointment at the way things went, I think I’m most disappointed with my own performance, as I let Sen. Carrico steer the conversation completely away from the merits of the bill and onto “enforceability”. In my own defense, it is difficult to respond to a Committee member, unless they ask you to, or the Chair does, so a number of Carrico’s illogical points went unanswered. If I should have another chance, I think I can pre-empt this argument, and will attempt to do so at my very first opportunity.

Also available as a Word document, please share and use this to get constituents to write to Senate Transportation Committee members, before their meeting Wednesday afternoon, 2/26.

To the Chairman and members of the Senate Transportation Committee of the 2014 Virginia General Assembly:

The Virginia Bicycling Federation respectfully offers the following points for the consideration of the Senators serving on the Senate Transportation Committee with respect to HB 82, known as the “Following Too Closely Bill”

1. This is a simple bill. One word would be removed from the existing § 46.2-816. The statute, as amended, would then be consistent with the Uniform Vehicle Code, which provides, in part:

Uniform Vehicle Code § 11-310— Following too closely

(a) The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicles and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway.

2. Virginia is the only state that explicitly declines to protect all legal users of the roadway from unreasonable and imprudent motorists. 48 states follow the UVC language, and Alabama has vague language, i.e. “driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow … ‘another’ more closely than is reasonable and prudent….” Alabama’s statute then uses “vehicle” elsewhere in the statute – which may be interpreted as meaning that the “another” refers to “another vehicle.”

3. Without this amendment, §46.2-816 is in direct conflict with §46.2-800 which grants the operator of a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, moped, or an animal or driving an animal on a highway the same rights and duties of a driver of a motor vehicle.

4. There is no reason to believe that the proposed revised statute would be any more difficult to enforce than the current statute, which is routinely enforced against drivers who rear-end other drivers. The Virginia State Police have testified, through their representative Danny Glick, that the enforcement of the revised statute would not pose any particular problem.

5. The Senate Transportation Committee has voted overwhelmingly in favor of previous versions of this bill in 2011 (15 -0) and 2012 (14-0) by many of the same committee members now serving. In the Senate, the bill was approved by margins of 40-0 in 2011 and 28-12 in 2012.

6. According to http://novasmartcycling.blogspot.com, the City of Virginia Beach requested this legislation in its Requested Code of Virginia Changes for 2010 and 2011.

For the foregoing reasons, on behalf of Virginia’s cyclists and others who choose not to, or cannot, operate motor vehicles, we, the Virginia Bicycling Federation, respectfully ask you, our elected representatives, to correct this glaring inconsistency within the Virginia Motor Vehicle Code. There is, quite simply, no rational basis for failing to pass this bill.

Only three bills on the docket in House Transportation SubCommittee 2 at 7a.m. so we had plenty of time for a full discussion. Six of the seven committee members were present, with Del. Terry Austin of the Covington/Roanoke area absent.

Sen Chap Petersen was called first with the Dooring bill and did a nice job of presenting, and fielding a number of questions from Scott Taylor of Virginia Beach, who had made it clear in a prior meeting that he wasn’t in favor of this concept of placing the burden of responsibility on the motorist when a door is opened into traffic. When the motion was made to Report the bill, Taylor & Villanueva (also of Virginia Beach) voted with Chairman Garrett (the M.D. from Lynchburg who kept his record intact of NEVER supporting any bill that would benefit the bicyclists) against the bill, with Carr, LeMunyon, & Ward voting for, so we thought we had lost on a 3-3 vote. After the meeting I learned from the Clerk that Del. Austin had given his proxy to Chairman Garrett, so the vote was recorded as 4-3.

Sen. Bryce Reeves of Fredericksburg was up next with SB97, the 3 ft. Passing bill. He also did a good job of presenting it, and with less discussion than we had had on the Dooring bill, a motion to Report was made, and passed by what we thought was a 5-1 vote, with only Chairman Garrett voting against. As with the Dooring bill, I found out later that he had again used Del. Austin’s proxy to vote against the bill, so the official count is reported as 5-2. This bill now goes on to the full House Transportation Committee, where it will be heard on Thursday morning, with the meeting beginning at the more civilized hour of 8:30. Jay Paul, speaking as an Insurance agent for the Dooring bill, Tom Bowden for Bike Virginia, Michael Gilbert of Ride Richmond, and I all spoke in favor of both bills, while no one spoke in opposition.

As reported last week, HB82/Don’t Follow a Bicycle Too Closely with Del. Comstock as patron, will be reconsidered in Senate Transportation, on Wednesday after adjournment of the Senate, usually around 1:30. These are the last hurdles for both of these bills, prior to going to the floor of their respective body, so I’m hopeful we can get them both reported.

See Also: “Virginia House panel again shoots down bill to protect cyclists from ‘dooring’” (Washington Post)

Thomas Jefferson Planning District is undertaking a corridor study of US Bike Route 76, the TransAmerica Trail, through Louisa, Fluvanna, Albemarle and Nelson counties, and Charlottesville.

The 3 phase study will inventory existing route conditions, initiate a promotional campaign and recommend roadway safety improvements. The Virginia Bicycling Federation Long Distance Routes Committee and Adventure Cycling Association are assisting with the study as needed.

The corridor study is a unique initiative on a Planning District level in Virginia. It could be a model for the other six Planning Districts USBR 76 crosses in its 576 mile path through the Commonwealth.

The study is part of the 2014 scope of work of the Planning District’s Rural Transportation Committee. The Committee members were presented honorary USBR 76 Virginia pins (pictured above) at its February 17, 2014 meeting, on behalf of VBF by Long Distance Routes Chair Joe Morgan. Information that will be useful for the study is:

• confirmation of funding sources for roadway safety bicycling facilities;
• documentation of the economic impact of bicycle touring and recreation; and,
• examples of effective on-line or social media promotion of long distance bicycle routes.

Comments and suggestions may be sent to Will Cockrell (wcockrell@tjpdc.org), lead staff for the study.

VBF is seeking a volunteer monitor in each Planning District of USBR 76 signage, safety and bicycle friendly businesses & attractions. If interested, contact Joe Morgan (jnmorgan@pulaskicounty.org).