VBF had our annual Fall Retreat last weekend, Nov. 14-16, at Sophia House, a hostel-style lodge and retreat center in Louisa County. Being centrally located to all of Virginia and easy for everyone to get to, having great riding all around, plus being a great facility, makes Sophia House a great venue for this event. The Fall Retreat is where we plan our strategy for the upcoming legislative session, formulate our work plan for the year, and elect or re-elect our officers.
No government officials showed up this year, but Saturday’s sessions were well-attended by a good group of bike advocates, including:
- Dick Elder, Chairman of the Board of Directors, BikeWalk Virginia
- Jeff Peel, Program Specialist, Bicycle Friendly Communities Program, League of American Bicyclists
- Randy Salzman, writer and columnist, transportation expert and activist, and former journalism and communications professor
- Dean Schott, Outreach Director, League of Illinois Bicyclists
- Bruce Wright, Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling
- Karen McMillan, from the Potomac Pedalers Touring Club, and the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee
It was great to have so many with strong communcations backgrounds!
Seven of ten VBF board members were present: Allen Muchnick, Bud Vye, Sheryl Finucane, Barbara Duerk, Champe Burnley, Matt O’Toole, and James Rosar.
Throughout the day Saturday, everyone gave reports on their own organizations, and what was happening in their own areas of Virginia. But on the program were three main topics of discussion:
- Legislative strategy — what we’ll all be working on for the 2009 Virginia General Assembly session in February
- Rails With Trails
- The Bikeleague’s new Bicycle Friendly States program, and Virginia’s 23rd place ranking
New & Improved Bike/Ped Legislation For 2009
Bud Vye is Virginia’s point man for bike/ped legislation, volunteering his time at the capitol every year, attending committee meetings, and chiming in on behalf of bicyclists when the opportunity presents itself. He knows what might have a chance of being passed and why. This year no one brought any new law ideas to VBF but we were all in agreement about what we’ll be working on:
- “Stop for pedestrians in crosswalks” will probably be reintroduced as it has been for several years, and if we can sway a few votes this time it may have a chance
- Making crashes resulting in injury a Class 1 misdemeanor, so if a driver injures a bicyclist he will automatically be charged with “reckless driving” or worse
- Change the minimum passing distance from Virginia’s current 2′ (ridiculous!) to the more commonly accepted 3′
Bud didn’t think he could make any progress with an “anti-dooring” law, to make it illegal to open a car door into the path of an approaching cyclist (or other vehicle). He didn’t think he’d get enough support from representatives from rural areas — who wouldn’t be aware of this problem, or see the need for a law to prevent it. For better or worse, Virginia legislators are reluctant to make new laws of any kind unless constituents are really crying for them.
Rails With Trails
In several localities in Virginia there’s interest in building trails along active rail lines, across rail lines, or otherwise on railroad property. Such trails already exist in Virginia — Ashland and Lynchburg are two examples. The state will indemnify property owners that allow trails to be built on their property, absolving them of any liability from trail users. The Attorney General has issued an opinion re-iterating this, but VBF is working to get this further clarified and communicated to stakeholders.
Bicycle Friendly States — Why Virginia Ranks 23rd — Plus Other Bikeleague News
Jeff Peel from the League of American Bicyclists talked at length about the new Bicycle Friendly States program, the scoring system, and why Virginia ranks 23rd.
Jeff also wanted us to know that the Bicycle Friendly Communities program can include an entire region — a metro area or group of municipalities can apply together for an award. Some other news from Jeff:
- The Bikeleague now has membership of about 600 bike clubs and 125 other organizations
- The cost of club insurance from the Bikeleague will be going down
- They’re working on clarifying the new bike commuter tax bill, what it really means, and how to go about collecting the benefit or getting your company onboard, and plan to publish this information by the beginning of 2009 when the law takes effect
- They’re asking everyone to support the America Bikes platform at the 2009 Bike Summit
VBF Business
Normally our retreats last the whole weekend, with rides on both Saturday and Sunday. But the weather was wet Saturday so no one felt like riding, and some of our guests had to leave early. Also, on Sunday, we wanted to go to the Bike House in Afton, where RABA was to present the famous Cookie Lady (June Curry) with the donations they had raised to help keep the Bike House going. So we cancelled our usual afternoon ride, and spent the rest of the day and evening on our own business and having our Board meeting, which is usually on Sunday. Not much new came out of this, as we’re still working on things we started over a year ago, including:
- An information campaign on using the the dangerous dog law for cyclist-dog crashes
- An information campaign on Virginia law for bicyclists, law enforcement, and what to do after a crash
- Our annual Cross-State Ride is on again in May, with Barbara Duerk coordinating
No one new expressed an interest in becoming a board member or officer, or changing officer positions, so all board members and officers were re-elected. (Minutes of the Board meeting are available to members upon request.) We’ve reassigned a few tasks among ourselves — most notably, Barbara Duerk is now in charge of membership.
Wrapping up on that note, plus another — like everyone else, VBF has suffered from the recent stock market crash. We’re not in trouble yet, but we’re not nearly as flush as we were a year ago. So this year especially, we need your support. If you think “there ought to be a law,” please remember that we’re the ones working hard to make that happen for you. Please join or renew your membership, and get your bike club to join or renew too.
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Good report. Matt. Bud’s point about legislation to make dooring an infraction was mostly that a (particular) rural legislator is unlikely to patron such a bill, not that the General Assembly would necessarily oppose this change in the law. I will again ask my delegate to patron such a bill; however, it would likely fare better in the House with a Republican patron or co-patron. A Republican delegate whose district already has some door-zone bike lanes (e.g., Harrisonburg, Roanoke, or Blacksburg) would be a good patron or co-patron candidate.