Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Legislators receive Bicycling Friendly Awards
Virginia Bicycling Federation recently presented their Bicycling Friendly Awards to three Virginia legislators, honoring them for their support for Virginia bicyclists. Two of the legislators are from Northern Virginia, Senator Chap Petersen and Delegate Barbara Comstock. Thanks to both of them for their efforts.From the VBF website:
Senator Bryce Reeves, (R-Spotsylvania) was the Chief Patron of SB 97, the Three Foot Passing bill, which was recently signed into law by Governor Terry McAuliffe. The law goes into effect on July 1.
Also recognized for their support of pro-bike legislation were Delegate Barbara Comstock (R-Fairfax/ Loudoun) who sponsored the following too closely legislation, HB 82 and Senator Chap Petersen (D- Fairfax) who sponsored the anti-dooring bill (SB 225).
Despite great efforts to get Petersen and Comstock’s legislation through, both bills were defeated. A big thanks to these legislators who supported our efforts to make Virginia a more friendly place to ride bikes.
Also recognized for their support of pro-bike legislation were Delegate Barbara Comstock (R-Fairfax/ Loudoun) who sponsored the following too closely legislation, HB 82 and Senator Chap Petersen (D- Fairfax) who sponsored the anti-dooring bill (SB 225).
Despite great efforts to get Petersen and Comstock’s legislation through, both bills were defeated. A big thanks to these legislators who supported our efforts to make Virginia a more friendly place to ride bikes.
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| Senator Reeves with VBF's Bud Vye |
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| Champ Burnley and Bud Vye of VBF and Delegate Comstock |
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| Senator Peterson and Champe Burnley |
Labels: delegate comstock, senator petersen, senator reeves
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Following Too Closely bill fails in Senate
While we're excited about the passage of the Three Foot Passing bill, SB 97, we were very disappointed that the Following Too Closely bill, HB 82, failed to report out of the Senate Committee on Transportation.The bill, sponsored by Del. Barbara Comstock of McLean, was approved by the House by a vote of 68-28. Since similar bills have passed the Senate in prior years, we were hopeful it would be approved this year. Unfortunately it failed to report by a vote of 11-4.
Objections were raised about enforceability. In our view, it would be easy to enforce if a cyclist were struck from behind by a motorist. It would be one less argument a motorist could use for hitting a cyclist since it would be illegal to do so. Currently tail-gateing of bicyclists is not illegal in Virginia; it's illegal in all other states.
See the Post article about the bill: More bike legislation scuttled by Virginia lawmakers.
From VBF:
After a decent amount of discussion, and several responses to questions by the State Police Rep to the effect that it was sometimes difficult to do so, but that it was as enforceable as a number of other laws, Sen. Newman of Lynchburg weighed in to the effect that it was primarily an Education problem and that he was suggesting that the bill be referred to some Accountability Commission that I am not familiar with, (and may have the name incorrect for).
Once VBF reports on the next steps for the bill, we'll pass it on.Thanks to Delegate Comstock for sponsoring the bill and working with the bike community to refine the language and work the bill through the House.
Labels: delegate comstock, follow too close, hb 82
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Three Foot Passing bill clears House Transportation Committee; Following Too Close bill fails in Senate
Please contact your Virginia Delegate and ask them to support this bill. To find out your Delegate see a link at the top of the Virginia General Assembly page or visit WABA's action page.
Unfortunately House Bill 82 was defeated in the Senate Transportation Committee. See Virginia Bicycling Federation's account of the vote. Thanks to Delegate Barbara Comstock who sponsored the bill and worked with cyclists to try to get it passed.
Labels: delegate comstock, follow too close, hb 82, sb 97, three feet to pass
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Following Too Closely bill still alive in Senate
See the Virginia Bicycling Federation update about HB 82, Following Too Closely, introduced by Delegate Comstock of McLean, being reconsidered in the Senate tomorrow, Wed. Feb. 26. The bill passed the house earlier. Please also visit the WABA alert page to register your support.Below is from the VBF update:
Also available as a Word document, please share and use this to get constituents to write to Senate Transportation Committee members, before their meeting Wednesday afternoon, 2/26.
To the Chairman and members of the Senate Transportation Committee of the 2014 Virginia General Assembly:
The Virginia Bicycling Federation respectfully offers the following points for the consideration of the Senators serving on the Senate Transportation Committee with respect to HB 82, known as the “Following Too Closely Bill”
1. This is a simple bill. One word would be removed from the existing § 46.2-816. The statute, as amended, would then be consistent with the Uniform Vehicle Code, which provides, in part:
Uniform Vehicle Code § 11-310— Following too closely
(a) The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicles and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway.
2. Virginia is the only state that explicitly declines to protect all legal users of the roadway from unreasonable and imprudent motorists. 48 states follow the UVC language, and Alabama has vague language, i.e. “driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow … ‘another’ more closely than is reasonable and prudent….” Alabama’s statute then uses “vehicle” elsewhere in the statute – which may be interpreted as meaning that the “another” refers to “another vehicle.”
3. Without this amendment, §46.2-816 is in direct conflict with §46.2-800 which grants the operator of a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, moped, or an animal or driving an animal on a highway the same rights and duties of a driver of a motor vehicle.
4. There is no reason to believe that the proposed revised statute would be any more difficult to enforce than the current statute, which is routinely enforced against drivers who rear-end other drivers. The Virginia State Police have testified, through their representative Danny Glick, that the enforcement of the revised statute would not pose any particular problem.
5. The Senate Transportation Committee has voted overwhelmingly in favor of previous versions of this bill in 2011 (15 -0) and 2012 (14-0) by many of the same committee members now serving. In the Senate, the bill was approved by margins of 40-0 in 2011 and 28-12 in 2012.
6. According to http://novasmartcycling.blogspot.com, the City of Virginia Beach requested this legislation in its Requested Code of Virginia Changes for 2010 and 2011.
For the foregoing reasons, on behalf of Virginia’s cyclists and others who choose not to, or cannot, operate motor vehicles, we, the Virginia Bicycling Federation, respectfully ask you, our elected representatives, to correct this glaring inconsistency within the Virginia Motor Vehicle Code. There is, quite simply, no rational basis for failing to pass this bill.
Labels: delegate comstock, follow too close, hb 82
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Following too closely bill passes House Transportation Subcommittee
HB 1950 is the VA House bill that would modify the current bill on following too closely so that it would apply to bicyclists. Thanks to all the cyclists who responded to alerts sent out by FABB, WABA, and others to ask Del. Barbara Comstock to support the bill. She reported today that she voted in favor of the bill and that it passed unanimously in the House Transportation Subcommittee. This is a great sign of bi-partisan support and bodes well for the bill once it reaches the House floor. Your support was key in getting this bill past. Thanks to Del. Comstock for her support.Update: We've heard that there was a minor change in the bill that
Update 2: The similar Senate bill, SB 1060, does not contain this language. It also changes the vehicle passing distance from two feet to three feet. If this bill passes, then the two bills will be reconciled and there's a chance the language from HB 1950 could be changed.
Labels: delegate comstock, follow too close
Monday, January 14, 2013
Contact Del. Comstock to support "Following too closely" bill.
Del. Barbara Comstock is the only Fairfax member on that committee. She voted against an identical bill last year. Please contact Del. Comstock, 804-698-1034, to ask her to support this bill. Some members of FABB discussed this issue with her at a recent town hall meeting and we hope she will support the bill this year. Your message to her could help get this bill passed.
Virginia is the only state that does not have a law protecting bicyclists from motorists following too closely. The bill deletes the second occurrence of the word "motor" from the existing bill:
§ 46.2-816. Following too closely. The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard to the speed of both vehicles and the traffic on, and conditions of, the highway at the time."
This would not prevent a cyclist from riding closely behind another cyclist in the common practice of drafting, as it only applies to drivers of "motor" vehicles.For more information on this bill read Following too closely talking points written by Allen Muchnick of Virginia Bicycling Federation from last year's session. HB 1950 contains the same wording.
See also the recent alert sent out by WABA:
The 2013 session of the Virginia General Assembly is now underway and is scheduled to conclude on February 23.
HB 1950 (Lopez), which would prohibit motorists from rear-ending bicyclists (i.e., following bicyclists "more closely than is reasonable and prudent"), may be heard by a 7-member House Transportation Subcommittee as early as 7 AM this Wednesday, January 16.
Virginia is the only state that does not prohibit motorists from following bicyclists too closely, yet this simple and common-sense legislation has repeatedly been defeated by close subcommittee votes in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Northern Virginia has three representatives on the 7-member subcommittee that will soon hear HB 1950:
1) Delegate Barbara Comstock (R-34th District, McLean), 804-698-1034,
2) Delegate Rich Anderson (R-51st District, Woodbridge), 804-698-1051,
3) Delegate Randy Minchew (R-10th District, Leesburg), 804-698-1010,
Please email and/or call the Richmond offices of these legislators to respectfully ask, as your representatives on this subcommittee, that they support HB 1950 to better protect bicyclists from rear-end collisions. Reportedly, of the 10 bicyclists killed in Virginia traffic crashes in 2012, 8 had been rear-ended by motorists.
You can also identify and contact your state legislators from the Who’s My Legislator page.
WABA
Labels: delegate comstock, follow too close
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
McLean Town Hall with VA legislators
On Wednesday, January 2 the McLean Citizens Association will host a Town Hall meeting with several local legislators, including Delegate Barbara Comstock. Delegate Comstock cast the deciding votes last year to kill two bills that would help protect bicyclists: 1. A bill that would prevent motorists from following a bicyclist more closely than is reasonable. Virginia appears to be the only state where bicyclists are excluded from "following too close" provisions; 2. A bill that "Requires drivers to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian or the operator of a human-powered vehicle." Virginia is one of only four states without this provision.Both bills will be introduced again this year by Delegate Alfonso Lopez. Support from Delegate Comstock is key to their passage. Why not attend this meeting and ask Delegate Comstock to support these bills? The meeting is 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. at the McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave, McLean.
For more information on these bills, see the talking points developed by Allen Muchnick of Virginia Bicycling Federation:
- Following too close — banning motorists from tailgating/intimidating cyclists. See Talking points on Following Bicyclists Too Closely from 2012
- Vulnerable road user protection, and/or due care. See Talking points on Exercise Due Care bill (HB 784)
Labels: delegate comstock, delegate lopez, due care, follow too close, mclean
Friday, September 21, 2012
Bicycle bills in upcoming VA legislative session
Delegate Alfonso Lopez (49th District) plans to reintroduce the "Exercise due care" and "Following too closely" bills again in the 2013 session. Both bills would help educate motorists about the rights of bicyclists and the need for motorists to drive carefully around them. Below is are the bill numbers and text of the bills from last year's session:- HB 784 Exercise due care; Drivers to exercise due care. Requires drivers to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian or the operator of a human-powered vehicle.
- HB 785 Following too closely; Includes bicycles, electric personal assistive mobility devices, electric power-assisted bicycles, and mopeds among vehicles that the driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow more closely than is reasonable.
It's hard to argue against these bills, especially the bill that requires drivers to be careful around pedestrians and bicyclists. Unfortunately Northern Virginia Delegate Barbara Comstock (34th District) thought otherwise and cast deciding votes in defeating those bills last year.
Both delegates represent Fairfax County residents. Thanks to Delegate Lopez for his support. During the legislative session we'll be sending out information about how you can support these bills. We'll also be asking cyclists to contact Delegate Comstock to ask her to support Fairfax bicyclists. We're trying to schedule a meeting with her to discuss her objections to the bills last year.
Labels: delegate comstock, delegate lopez, due care, follow too close
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Del. Comstock once again helps defeat bike bill
McLean Del. Barbara Comstock (R-34th District) once again voted with her Republican colleagues to defeat this bill. She voted earlier to defeat the House version of the bill. One way to voice your displeasure with Del. Comstock's vote is to contact her office.
Del. Comstock also helped defeat the bill that would require motorists to exercise due care around bicyclists and pedestrians. This is the full text of the bill: "Requires drivers to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian or the operator of a human-powered vehicle." Virginia is one of only three states without this provision.
Thanks to Virginia Bicycling Federation for following the various bicycle-related bills this year and for attending the many hearings, testifying in favor of several of the bills, and getting the word out to other cyclists.
Labels: delegate comstock, follow too close
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Del. Comstock again votes to kill a bicycle bill
After voting against the bill that would require motorists to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a bicyclist, Del. Comstock (R-McLean) yesterday voted to kill HB 785, that adds a bicycle to the list of vehicles for which a "driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow more closely than is reasonable." According to the article Va. House panel rejects bid to outlaw tailgating bikes, "Virginia appears to be the only state in the country where it's legal to tailgate a bicycle, and a House of Delegates subcommittee is OK with that." To voice your displeasure with Del. Comstock's votes on these bills, you can send her an email message.According to VBF's Legislative Update for Feb. 1, the bill to require motorists to stop for pedestrians (and bicyclists) in a crosswalk was also defeated since the patron was not present.
Labels: delegate comstock, HB785, tailgate, virginia legislature
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Bill to require drivers to exercise due care defeated in VA House subcommittee
The Virginia House Transportation subcommittee 2 today voted to pass by indefinitely, in other words to kill, a bill that would have drivers of motor vehicles exercising due care to avoid crashing into a pedestrian or bicyclist. Here's the full text of the bill:
§ 46.2-923.1. Drivers to exercise due care.
Notwithstanding the other provisions of this chapter, every driver of a motor vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian or the operator of a human-powered vehicle and shall give an audible signal when necessary. Every driver shall exercise proper precaution upon observing any child or any obviously confused, incapacitated, or intoxicated person on the highways.
Delegate Barbara Comstock (R-McLean) cast the deciding vote to kill this bill. Unfortunately we have not been watching the session closely and did not ask cyclists to send messages to members of the subcommittee. This is an important bill that would help protect cyclists by requiring motorists to exercise due care to avoid hitting them. Four out of the 7 members of the committee, all Republicans, voted against the bill. We wrote the following note to Delegate Comstock:Notwithstanding the other provisions of this chapter, every driver of a motor vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian or the operator of a human-powered vehicle and shall give an audible signal when necessary. Every driver shall exercise proper precaution upon observing any child or any obviously confused, incapacitated, or intoxicated person on the highways.
Dear Delegate Comstock,
I was very disappointed to hear that you voted to pass by indefinitely the bill (HB 784 Exercise due care; requires drivers to avoid colliding with pedestrian) that would help protect pedestrians, bicyclists, children, and incapacitated pedestrians. It's hard to believe that 4 of the 7 members of House Transportation subcommittee 2 voted against this bill. It doesn't seem to be too much to ask motorists to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian or a bicyclist. Please reconsider your vote and have this bill heard by the full Transportation Committee and House as a whole.
Sincerely,
Bruce Wright
See a summary of what Virginia Bicycling Federation considers bicycling-related bills in the 2012 General Assembly. They are also posting regular Legislative Updates.I was very disappointed to hear that you voted to pass by indefinitely the bill (HB 784 Exercise due care; requires drivers to avoid colliding with pedestrian) that would help protect pedestrians, bicyclists, children, and incapacitated pedestrians. It's hard to believe that 4 of the 7 members of House Transportation subcommittee 2 voted against this bill. It doesn't seem to be too much to ask motorists to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian or a bicyclist. Please reconsider your vote and have this bill heard by the full Transportation Committee and House as a whole.
Sincerely,
Bruce Wright
Labels: delegate comstock, due care, hb784
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Three feet passing bill (SB 928) moves to House Trans Comm
Even though the three feet passing bill was defeated in the House, the Senate version, SB 928, was approved unanimously in the Senate and now moves to the House Transportation Committee. Please contact the Fairfax members of this committee to ask them to support SB 928.- Thomas Rust, Herndon, 804 698-1086, deltrust@house.virginia.gov
- Timothy Hugo, Centreville, 804 698-1040, delthugo@house.virginia.gov
- Barbara Comstock, Great Falls/McLean, 804 698-1034, delbcomstock@house.virginia.gov
- Eileen Filler-Corn, Burke, 804 698-1041, delefiller-corn@house.virginia.gov
Dear Delegate ,
I am writing to ask you to support SB 928 which requires motorists to allow 3 feet when passing bicyclists. Three feet is a much safer passing distance than 2 ft for a fast moving motor vehicle overtaking and passing a cyclist. I personally have been passed by too closely by motorists on numerous occasions. The distance is easy to measure as well, being approximately one arms length.
SB 928 passed the Senate by a vote of 40-0. Passage of the bill will encourage more courteous road use will be an opportunity to educate motor vehicle operators to allow for a wider margin of error when passing cyclists, and potentially reducing the number of fatalities and serious injuries to cyclists.
Eighteen states, plus the District of Columbia, have now adopted three feet to pass bills. Similar bills are pending in 7 states. The League of American Bicyclists has adopted this standard as one of the criteria for designating a state or city as "Bicycle Friendly." Please support the bill.
Sincerely,
I am writing to ask you to support SB 928 which requires motorists to allow 3 feet when passing bicyclists. Three feet is a much safer passing distance than 2 ft for a fast moving motor vehicle overtaking and passing a cyclist. I personally have been passed by too closely by motorists on numerous occasions. The distance is easy to measure as well, being approximately one arms length.
SB 928 passed the Senate by a vote of 40-0. Passage of the bill will encourage more courteous road use will be an opportunity to educate motor vehicle operators to allow for a wider margin of error when passing cyclists, and potentially reducing the number of fatalities and serious injuries to cyclists.
Eighteen states, plus the District of Columbia, have now adopted three feet to pass bills. Similar bills are pending in 7 states. The League of American Bicyclists has adopted this standard as one of the criteria for designating a state or city as "Bicycle Friendly." Please support the bill.
Sincerely,
Update: WABA has posted a message about SB 928 with an easy way to send a letter to the seven committee members from Northern Virginia to ask them to support the bill.
Labels: delegate comstock, delegate filler-corn, delegate hugo, delegate rust, three feet to pass
