Virginia Senate kills the following-too-closely bill, passes 3 feet law

Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath), Transportation Committee chair, voted to pass over (which is bad) the following too closely bill because state police told him it would be hard to enforce. 

[He] acknowledged that he may well have supported the same policy in the past three sessions. Nevertheless, he said, “you always have to reserve the right to be smarter than you were the day before.”

Sometimes minds change in other ways. When the third bill came up in the Senate, Sen. John A. Cosgrove Jr. (R-Chesapeake) said he’d normally vote against it. However, a friend had just been hit by a pickup truck with large mirrors, he said. “Because of that incident, I think this year I would support this bill.”

If enforcement is a concern, then I'm sure they will rescind the law making it illegal to tailgate another car.

The goal is not a wave of citations for tailgating, cyclists said, but a way to find wrongdoing when a car hits the back of a bicycle. Police are often reluctant to charge reckless driving, and without the new law, “it’s one less argument that a cyclist’s attorney could use,” said Bruce Wright of Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling.

On the upside, a 3-foot passing law passed. Previously Virginia had 2-feet and, 3-feet is more in keeping with most states. 

Comstock, who is running for the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R), has opposed pro-bike legislation in the past. She said she’s been working with the biking community and they had addressed her concerns.

Comments

[ACyclistInTheSuburbs]

I think this is great news - we FINALLY got an important bike safety bill through the legislature. For dooring, and following, we will try again next year (with special attention to educating Creigh Deeds, I suspect)

[Crickey7]

Baby steps. Good work for cyclist advocates in getting the 3-foot bill passed. I have hopes for the dooring bill in future sessions.

[T]

Talk about a role reversal in the VGA. Del. Comstock becomes the advocate for cyclists and Sen. Deeds flips to become the enemy? Sad.

[DE]

A 3-foot law is a huge step. A dooring law won't stop most people from dooring, but perhaps the publicity will help (and of course the liability issue).

Cosgrove switched because he had a friend who was hit on a bike. If only all conservatives could have such friends, or something, I guess.

[MB]

Really unimpressed with Deeds, here. He reads his email. Let him know if you are, too. He's generally been a good friend to cycling in the past, so it's doubly frustrating.