The 2010 Virginia General Assembly is in session, and the bills that VBF is supporting this year are coming up soon in committee. Please contact your legislators, and ask them to support the following bills. Find your legislators through the General Assembly’s Who’s My Legislator page.
Bill numbers below are hotlinked to their pages at Richmond Sunlight, where you can read a summary of each bill along with the full text, and track each bill’s progress through committee. You can also look them up at the Virginia General Assembly’s Legislative Information System.
SB 566 & HB 1048: following bicycles too closely, minimum three foot bicycle passing distance.
SB 546: amends landowner liability law to explicitly protect railroads from recreational access liability — important for pedestrian access across rail lines, as well as rails-with-trails.
HB 459: stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. (Failed in House Transportation Sub-Committee on 1/20.)
SB 228: stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. (Reported to Full Senate on 1/21.)
HB 752: allows bicycles and motorcycles to proceed on red when traffic lights fail to respond to sensors.
HB 222: design Standards for Secondary Highway Design Components — VBF recommends amending this to include bicycle accommodations.
HB 22: forbids use of personal communications devices (cell phones) while driving. (Failed in House Militia, Police & Public Safety Sub-Committee on 1/21.)
HJR 119: establishes a joint subcommittee to study the creation of a US Route 1 Corridor and report.
HB 810: OPPOSE — vehicle length increase from 57′ to 75′, and exceptions for saddle-type hitches and farm-to-farm vehicles, essentially allows double trailers.
It’s especially important to get support from committee members when these bills are in committee. We’ll post specific information about this as things develop. Check back here for updates, and follow our Twitter feed.
Update from Allen: VBF is currently seeking co-patrons for SB 566 and HB 1048. Please ask your delegate and senator NOW to co-patron these bills.
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HB 459 begs the question of whether a cyclist is a pedestrian. Loudon County sheriff’s department, for one, takes the position that a cyclist in a crosswalk is not a pedestrian unless he dismounts and walks his bike.
Virginia already considers cyclists in crossswalks to be pedestrians:
“46.2-904. A person riding a bicycle, electric personal assistive
mobility device, or an electric power assisted bicycle on a sidewalk, shared-use path, or across a roadway on a crosswalk, shall have all the rights and duties of a pedestrian under the same circumstances.”