Senate Bill 928, the Following Too Closely and Three Foot Passing bill
being patroned by Sen. Ryan McDougle from Hanover, after passing the
Senate unanimously, has now been assigned to House Transportation
SubCommittee 2, where we have been previously with the identical House
Bill 1683.

The bill has not been docketed yet, but it is likely that it will be heard next Wednesday, Feb. 16 @ 7 or 7:30 a.m. and I am hopeful that the result this time will be different.

SB928 needs your support now.

I am also following SB1351/Norment restricting cell phone usage by
drivers, (which) has just showed up as being assigned to the Militia, Police and Public Safety committee, which is where the other bills restricting cell phone usage by drivers have been heard.

This committee meets on Fridays at 9:00 a.m., but tomorrow’s docket has been posted for some time and 1351 is not on it.

Since there are no subcommittees listed for this committee, it would appear that 1351 would be heard on Friday, 2/18, which gives us some time to call for contacts to the members, who are:

House Militia, Police and Public Safety

Sherwood (Chairman), Wright, Carrico, Lingamfelter, Nutter, Athey, Cline, Gilbert, Merricks, Cleaveland, Morefield, Edmunds, Wilt, Habeeb, Barlow, Shuler, Lewis, Miller, P.J., Tyler, James, Keam, Filler-Corn

Meets: Friday, 9:00 a.m., House Room C

I will put together a contact list with EMails and phone #’s for this committee within the next day and send it to you, so we can drum up some support for 1351 in what is one of the most Conservative committees in the legislature, some of whose members you already know.

SB928 (three feet to pass, following too close) has been assigned to the House Transportation Committee.

House Transportation Subcommittee 2 DID meet briefly this morning and
SB928 was NOT on its docket.

House Transportation Committee meets tomorrow at 8:30 a.m., but SB928 is NOT listed there, either. Only bill of interest to us on that docket is SB1135/Wagner, which changes the duties of the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

Next meeting of House Transportation is Tuesday, one half hour after adjournment, which should be around 1 p.m., unless the House runs late.

SB928 needs your support now.

SB 1351 is the number of Sen. Norment’s bill banning cell phone usage by drivers, unless hands-free.

Not yet assigned to a House Committee, so we will keep an eye on it, and support it when we see where it lands.

As we reported yesterday, SB 928, the three feet passing bill, was passed unanimously by the Senate on Monday. It’s now headed to the House, where it must get through committee and then a full House vote.

This bill increases the minimum passing distance from 2′ to 3′ for motorists passing bicycles, and adds bicycles to the list of vehicles that a motorist shall not follow more closely than is reasonable (prohibits aggressive tailgating of bicycles).

It may be heard in committee as early as Thursday morning, Feb. 10; or it could be heard by the full Transportation Committee next Tuesday morning, Feb. 15.

Please write to your delegates now, and ask them to support SB 928 — especially if your delegate is one of the committee members listed below.

The Who’s My Legislator page will tell you who your delegate is.

BikeWalk Virginia has posted an alert too, along with a sample letter.

Chairman:

May, Joe T. /Loudon 804 698-1033
deljmay@house.virginia.gov

Vice Chair:

Oder, G. Glenn/Newport News — PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT

Members:

Carrico, Charles W., Sr. /Galax 804 698-1005
delccarrico@house.virginia.gov

Cosgrove, John A./Chesapeake 804 698-1078
deljcosgrove@house.virginia.gov

Rust, Thomas Davis/Herndon 804 698-1086
deltrust@house.virginia.gov

Hugo, Timothy D./Fairfax 804 698-1040 delthugo@house.virginia.gov

Scott, Edward T./Culpeper 804 698-1030
delescott@house.virginia.gov

Tata, Robert/VaBeach 804 698-1085 delbtata@house.virginia.gov

Villanueva, Ronald A./VaBeach 804 698-1021
delrvillanueva@house.virginia.gov

Comstock, Barbara J./Fairfax 804 698-1034
delbcomstock@house.virginia.gov

Garrett, T. Scott/Lynchburg 804 698-1023
delsgarrett@house.virginia.gov

Cox, John A./Hanover 804 698-1055
deljcox@house.virginia.gov

Cleaveland, William H./Roanoke 804 698-1017
delwcleaveland@house.virginia.gov

Habeeb, Gregory D.
delghabeeb@house.virginia.gov

Ward, Jeion A./Hampton 804 698-1092
deljward@house.virginia.gov

Ebbin, Adam P./Arlington 804 698-1049
delaebbin@house.virginia.gov

BaCote, Mamye E./Newport News 804 698-1095
delmbacote@house.virginia.gov

Brink, Robert H./Arlington 804 698-1048
delrbrink@house.virginia.gov

Toscano, David J./Charlottesville 804 698-1057
deldtoscano@house.virginia.gov

McQuinn, Delores L./Richmond 804 698-1070
deldmcquinn@house.virginia.gov

Carr, Betsy B./Richmond 804 698-1069
delbcarr@house.virginia.gov

Filler-Corn, Eileen/Fairfax 804 698-1041
delefiller-corn@house.virginia.gov

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