Advocates at the Cascade Bicycle Club are preparing testimony to support a recrafted “vulnerable users bill” that's scheduled for a hearing in Olympia on Friday.
It's just one of five bills in the Washington state legislature this season that directly relate to making the roads safer for bicyclists, among others. The Cascade Bicycle Club and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington are involved in the lobbying efforts on these in the House and Senate.
Vulnerable users
The Vulnerable Users Bill, which failed to pass last year, is returning as SB 5326, submitted by Senator Adam Kline, D-Seattle and HB 1339, submitted by Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-West Seattle/Vashon. Both were filed this week.
While not establishing a criminal offense, they call for special penalties in cases where a motorist causes the death or serious injury of a pedestrian or bicyclist because of negligent driving.
Too often, a traffic violation that causes only a crumpled fender with another car can cause death or serious injury to a vulnerable user — someone on foot or on a bicycle. Unless that motorist is drunk or driving recklessly, the result is often nothing more than a simple traffic ticket.
If the bill passes, a motorist who commits negligent driving in the second degree will be required to pay a $5,000 penalty (it can be reduced to a minimum $1,000) and lose driving privileges for 90 days.
The motorist can choose to appear in court for the infraction. The judge will be able to reduce the penalties to $250 and require the driver to take a driver's education course and perform 100 hours of community service related to safe driving.
Cascade has prepared a Q&A regarding the new vulnerable user bills.
The Senate bill is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. hearing on Friday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, meeting in Senate Hearing Room 1 at the Cherberg Office Building. Some bicycle crash victims and their families are expected to attend. Check out “Gearing up in Olympia” for more details.
[Check here for a video recording of the Senate judiciary committee hearing from Friday.]
Complete streets
Another bill of interest to bicyclists is the Complete Streets bill, HB 1071, which had a hearing in the House Committee on Transportation on Monday. The bill passed out of committee last year but died on the House floor.
The bill seeks to make urban main streets safe for motorists, as well as bicyclists, pedestrians and transit users. It includes a state grant program for highways that serve as main streets in small towns.
Safe passing bill
A key provision of the Mutual Responsibilities bill HB 1018 / SB 5193 is to set a safe distance for motorists passing bicycles. Cars passing at 35 mph are required to give 3 feet of space, while those traveling faster are required to give 5 feet.
As its name implies, the bill also spells out some guidelines that bicyclists must follow for safety, such as riding on the right side of the road — such as a bike lane or shoulder — when they can determine that road conditions are safe there.
The Bicycle Alliance of Washington tells more about this at “Cyclists and motorists are mutually responsible for sharing the road.” As you can see in the comments, this bill is not universally supported by the bicycling community.
Speed limits
A local authority speed limit bill HB 1217 allows jurisdictions to set blanket speed limits of 20 mph on non-arterial streets. It's another attempt to protect vulnerable road users, such as bicyclists and pedestrians and another top priority of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.
They point out that many European cities have implemented the 20 mph (30km) limit, which reduces stopping distance and the force of impact in collisions.
More at “Legislation to allow lower speed limits…” at BAW.
Traffic school
Another priority for BAW this session is Traffic School Safety Education, HB 1129. This is an outgrowth of the previous passage of a bill that requires drivers' education programs to teach safe driving techniques around bicyclists and pedestrians.
The Traffic School bill also requires those techniques also be taught in traffic school, where motorists go as part of a sentence for traffic infractions.
More about this at “Teaching traffic school attendees to safely interact with bikes and peds…”
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