A bummer today as we were at the Legislature expecting to hear SB1341 banning handheld cell phone usage shortly after Adjournment of the Senate, but the Senate was voting on a long list of Judges which meant that it didn’t adjourn until after 3 p.m. and the Transportation Committee  wasn’t  called to order until about 3:20.

That meant that SB1341 was postponed until Next Wednesday and looks as though it may be heard at about the same time on Wednesday as HB1811, the House version, which will be heard in the House Courts, Subcomittee 1.

Nothing more to report today, so we will await what we may have in store for next Tuesday, as well as Wednesday.

Although we only have a 46 day session this year, it seems to be off to a relatively slow start, as a number of bills we are interested in have yet to be listed on a docket.

Those that have include Buddy Fowler’s HB 1648, which has been heard in House Trans Sub 1 and unanimously passed on to the Full Trans Comm, where it also unanimously was reported on to the House floor. This bill adds the town of Ashland to the jurisdictions who may pass an ordinance that would call for a fine of as much as $500 for a driver who fails to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk.

Another bill that we had thought might have something to do with “Scooters ” bills, is HB 1786 carried by Del. Chris Hurst of Blacksburg which adds “other power driven mobility devices” to the list of devices that is permitted to be on sidewalks. During discussion, it became obvious that the bill was not referring to Scooters, but to something used by a disabled person, and the bill was also reported forward unanimously. At some point, I will get a description of what this mobility device is, but for now I will stop covering the bill and not worry about it. [continue reading…]

Photo by Michael Weidner on Unsplash

Your comments are needed now to prevent rule changes that threaten railbanking—agreements between railroad companies and trail managers to convert unused rail corridors to trails, until they are needed for railroads again.  Opponents of railbanking want to impede the development of rail-trails.

Please submit your comments by Thursday, November 1.  Read on for details.

From Rails to Trails Conservancy’s Leeann Sinpatanasaskul:

“As you may know, the federal Surface Transportation Board is considering a rule that RTC believes poses a threat to railbanking and, therefore, the creation of future trails. Basically, the rule would limit railbanking negotiations to an arbitrary three years, when some negotiations take up to 6 years.

The comment period ends on Thursday, Nov. 1—and I just found out last Friday that anti-railbanking supporters (from NARPO – National Association of Reversionary Property Owners) are sending in many comments supporting the rule.

If your organization is able to send in their own comments opposing the rule, please do so! The docket number is EP-749-1 and comments are classified as “other submissions” which do not require a user account or a filing fee. RTC has a template letter attached that you can use, and I am more than happy to help review a draft if you have questions.

If you, as an individual, would like to send a comment, an easy way to do that is through our action alert. RTC is collecting petitions and we’ll submit them to the STB by the Nov. 1 deadline.

Sorry for the short notice and if you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me an email.”

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injuries in cycling, but, until now, consumers who want to buy one that offers the best protection have had little information to go on. A new ra tings program, based on collaborative research by Virginia Tech and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, fixes that.

The first 30 helmets to be tested — all popular adult-size models — show a range of performance, with four earning the highest rating of 5 stars, two earning 2 stars, and the rest in the 3-4-star range. Cost wasn’t a good predictor of performance. Both the $200 Bontrager Ballista MIPS and the $75 Specialized Chamonix MIPS earn 5 stars.

“Our goal with these ratings is to give cyclists a n evidence-based tool for making informed decisions about how to reduce their risk of injury,” says Steve Rowson, director of the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab and an associate professor of biomedical engineering and mechanics. “We also hope manufacturers will use the information to make improvements.”

While the government requires that helmets pass a series of tests to be sold in the U.S., the new ratings rely on a more realistic evaluation based on joint Virginia Tech and IIHS research.

“As more people choose the bicycle as a mode of transportation, better helmet design is one of the tools that can be used to address the increasing number of cycling injuries,” says David Zuby, chief research officer at IIHS and a frequent bike commuter.

A total of 835 bicyclist s were killed in crashes with motor vehicles in 2016. That is the highest number of bicyclist deaths since 1991.

More than half of those killed in 2016 weren’t wearing helmets. Helmet use has been estimated to reduce the odds of a head injury by 50 percent.

The bike helmet rating system developed by Rowson and his colleagues builds on their years of experience evaluating other types of sports head protection. The Virginia Tech Helmet Lab currently rates football and hockey helmets, as well as soccer headgear. [continue reading…]