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)
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