Support Virginia bike lane and anti-distracted driver legislation

Two bills designed to make biking safer made it out of the Senate last week and need support to get them out of the heavily Republican House of Delegates.

SB 1338 would prohibit driving in a bicycle lane to pass or attempt to pass another vehicle. The Virginia Senate passed SB 1338 on a 23-17 vote, with only four Republicans voting in favor. Unfortunately,  Subcommittee #1 failed to report SB 1338 to the full House Transportation Committee on a 3-4 vote.  Thus, unless someone (such as Del. Anderson) who voted against reporting SB 1338 changes his mind and asks that SB 1338 be reconsidered in the full Transportation Committee, SB 1338 is now dead. 

SB 1339 would establish a traffic infraction when a careless or distracted motorist is the proximate cause of serious physical injury to a pedestrian, bicyclist, or other “vulnerable road user”, as defined in this bill.   The Virginia Senate passed SB 1339 on a 21-19 vote, with only two Republicans voting in favor.

Subcommittee #1 recommended that SB 1339 be referred to the House Courts of Justice Committee, so SB 1339 is still alive.  The Courts of Justice Committee meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, so SB 1339 may go before that committee in a few days.

The House Courts of Justice Committee members from Northern Virginia are listed below.  Please call or email one or more of these delegates as soon as possible to ask them to support SB 1339.

Del. Dave Albo (Chair), R, HD-42 (Springfield), 804-698-1042, [email protected]

Del. Jackson Miller, R, HD-50 (Manassas), 804-698-1050, [email protected]

Del. Vivian Watts, D, HD-39 (Annandale), 804-698-1039, [email protected]

Del. Charniele Herring, D, HD-46 (Alexandria), 804-698-1046, [email protected]

Del. Patrick Hope, D, HD-47 (Arlington), 804-698-1047, [email protected]

Del. Paul Krizek, D, HD-44 (Mount Vernon), 804-698-1044, [email protected]

Del. Todd Gilbert, D, HD-15 (Woodstock), 804-698-1015, [email protected]

A short and simple request to support SB 1339 should suffice.  Please include your home address and contact information, so they know you are a constituent or live near their district.  Here’s a sample message:
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Subject: Support SB 1339
Dear Delegate xxxxxxxxx,
Please vote for SB 1339, which was just referred to the House Courts of Justice Committee.   SB 1339 would hold a careless or distracted motorist accountable when his or her negligence causes serious injury to a pedestrian, bicyclist, or other “vulnerable road user”.
As a [name of county] resident,I would greatly appreciate your support for this simple and straightforward traffic-law improvement, to help make me and my family safer when we travel by foot or bicycle.  Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,

Your Name

Your Street Address

Your City, VA Zipcode

And remember, the House of Delegates elections are this fall.

Comments

[bk]

Great work posting this. I've written to all seven delegates. btw, Paul Krizek’s email has a typo; it should be [email protected]

[DE]

I wrote the chair and the del. for my county. Thanks for the draft to start with.

[Muchnick]

Thanks for posting. SB 1339 is being heard in the Criminal Laws Subcommittee of the House Courts of Justice Committee this afternoon (the four members from NoVA are Albo, Miller, Herring, Watts, and Gilbertt. If it's not killed there, I'll post an update.

[scoot]

Serious question: How would these bills actually improve cycling in Virginia?

SB 1338: Isn't it already illegal to drive into a bike lane without yielding to bikes first, by 46.2-804-2? Why should we explicitly prohibit drivers from using empty bike lanes to get around drivers that are waiting for an opportunity to turn left? Thousands of drivers use shoulders every day to proceed past turning vehicles; it's very easy to check for traffic and execute this same maneuver safely even if there is a bike lane.

SB 1339: Anyone that this law ensnares should already be chargeable under 46.2-852, right? Would this law be any more effective at convicting and/or taking licenses from "SMIDSY" drivers than the existing code and penalties for reckless driving?

[Jon Michael Ross]

"Two bills designed to make biking safer..."

Explain what justifies this statement...

[washcycle]

I think the goal of 1338 is to create a culture of safe driving. When I was learning to drive, my Dad made me use the turn signal any time I would turn, even if was just in our driveway or into a parking lot parking space. Now it's such a part of my driving that I never fail to signal. 1338 could have that effect, if it's illegal to go in the bike lane in every situation, maybe people will keep the hell out when there's someone to crash into. We do this kind of thing at work all the time. We don't just follow the process when we need to, we follow it every time because you don't want to get in the habit of cutting corners.

1339 creates a new standard and new penalties and yes the idea is to remove the SMDISY defense. 'Surovell said if the bill becomes law, it could set a standard that could help victims win civil suits against drivers for damages too. “Right now, if a driver basically stands up in court and says ‘I didn’t see him’, it’s pretty much an absolute defense,” Surovell said.'

By the way 1338 was killed because "Members were concerned that it would be “confusing” to drivers."

[Muchnick]

SB 1339 was killed on Wednesday in the Criminal Laws Subcommittee, so we'll have to try again next year.

[Kolo Jezdec]

OK, I'll admit to it. What is SMDISY?

[washcycle]

Sorry Mate, I Didn't See You

[Kolo Jezdec]

^ Thanks.