Good news for the Vulnerable User Bill in Olympia! After a successful hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, the bill will have a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee next Thursday, Feb.3, at 10am. Please email us if you can make it down to Olympia and sign in favor or testify. Here’s a link to video of the first hearing, beginning 31 minutes in.

The Vulnerable User Bill has undergone several changes from its original version two years ago. SB 5326 and HB 1339 are this year’s bill numbers in the Senate and House. This bill will fill the gap between a simple traffic ticket and a crime. It creates greater penalties for negligent drivers who maim or kill pedestrians, bicyclists and others, and it will reinforce the need to be more careful when driving around vulnerable people. The bill:

• Defines the Vulnerable Roadway User concept

• Amends Negligent Driving 2, an infraction, which imposes a $250 fine

• Makes the negligent driver pay a fine of between $1000 and $5000 and suspends his or her driving privileges for 90 days, — OR — The driver can reduce the fine back down to $250 by appearing in court, completing a traffic safety course and performing up to 100 hours of community service

• The bill requires that the community service and traffic safety course be completed within one year, or the court will impose the larger fine and license suspension

Community service and court appearances are not mandatory for infractions in Washington, only for crimes, so the driver may choose to pay the larger fine rather than perform community service. The fine should be set high enough that the driver is compelled to appear in court and reduce the fine. These and other procedural issues have led to growing support for the bill, from law enforcement officers to public defenders. You can read an updated fact sheet here.

In the Senate hearing, we heard moving testimony from victims who were seriously injured and family members of bicyclists and pedestrians who were killed by negligent drivers. Members of the committee from both parties expressed strong support for increasing the penalty for drivers, and we expect that they will advance the bill forward. But there are still many hurdles to clear! Here are three ways you can help:

1.  Ask your Representative to support House Bill 1339. Click here to send an email to your Representative if he or she is on the House Judiciary Committee and ask him or her to support HB 1339. We have the continued guidance and support of a diverse group of stakeholders – including law enforcement, prosecutors, public defenders, and others but your message is vital in making this bill state law. Note that this form will work only if your representative is not yet a bill sponsor.

2.  Come to a hearing in Olympia. HB 1339 is scheduled for a public hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, February 3, at 10am in  the John L. O’Brien Building (JLOB), Hearing Room A.  Please join Cascade Bicycle Club and safe roadway advocates from around the state to support the Vulnerable User Bill.  Many of the hearing attendees will be family members or victims of tragic crashes, and they will need our support. Cascade is helping to organize carpools, so if you want to attend and need a ride, email organizer@cascadebicycleclub.org and let us know.

3.  Be a lobbyist for a day at Transportation Advocacy Day. On Thursday, February 10, Cascade Bicycle Club, Transportation Choices Coalition, and many other organizations will gather and lobby in person for legislation that protects and provides funding for bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users. Sign up on the Transportation Choices Coalition website and come join us.

PROTECTING VULNERABLE ROADWAY USERS
Cascade Bicycle Club seeks passage of Vulnerable User Bill

WASHINGTON STATE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARING ON FRIDAY, JAN. 21

SEATTLE, JANUARY 20, 2011 – On Friday, January 21, 2011 the Washington state Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Senate Bill 5326 (House Bill 1339), also known as the Vulnerable User Bill. This legislation would increase the penalty for drivers who commit traffic offenses that cause the serious injury or death of a pedestrian, bicyclist or other vulnerable roadway user.

More than 150 pedestrians, cyclists, equestrians and farm equipment operators are gravely injured or killed in Washington state each year by negligent drivers who have broken traffic laws. Currently most of these offending drivers face only a mail-in traffic fine that in many cases is as low as $49. The Vulnerable User Bill, if passed, would impose steeper penalties.

Cascade Bicycle Club (Cascade) has advocated for passage of the Vulnerable User Bill since 2009. Last year the legislation came within minutes of a vote on the Senate floor before it died—not for lack of necessary votes, but because time ran out at a critical cutoff. Cascade’s advocacy director David Hiller believes that the bill has enough momentum to pass in 2011.

“In 2009 we met with families and survivors who wanted to know that people who were driving negligently and who took the lives of their loved ones weren’t going to get away with just a ticket,” Hiller said. “This bill is in response to their request for justice.”

The bill was introduced to the Senate Thursday morning by Sen. Adam Kline (D-37) and is co-sponsored by Sen. Joseph Zarelli (R-18) and others. Freshman Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-34) introduced the House bill, along with Rep. Mike Hope (R-44), who is also an officer of the Seattle Police Department.

Under the law, a driver committing a traffic infraction—such as speeding, texting while driving or running a red light—that results in the serious injury or death of a vulnerable roadway user would face an automatic fine of $1,000 to $5,000 and a 90-day suspension of driving privileges. To mitigate the above penalties, the offender could request a court hearing and, per judicial discretion, pay a $250 fine, complete a traffic safety course and perform up to 100 hours of community service related to driver improvement and public education about traffic safety.

Cascade stresses that the bill does not establish a criminal offense. It simply increases the penalty for driving offenses that lead to tragic outcomes for vulnerable users.

The legislation defines vulnerable users as pedestrians, bicyclists, equestrians, highway workers, skaters/rollerskaters/rollerbladers, people on scooters and people in wheelchairs or on farm equipment.

Many of the attendees at Friday’s hearing will be family members or victims of tragic crashes.

Vulnerable User Bill
(Senate Bill 5326, House Bill 1339)

Washington State Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
Friday, January 21, 2011
1:30 p.m.
Cherberg Senate Building, Senate Hearing Room 1
Olympia, WA

Cascade Bicycle Club requests that those interested in attending the hearing RSVP by emailing organizer@cascadebicycleclub.org. The group is especially interested in attendees who have been victims or are family members of a victim of negligent driving who were vulnerable users at the time of the traffic incident. Attendees may join Cascade in conference room 236 of the Cherberg building at 1 p.m. to prepare for the hearing.

Citizens may send an email urging their senators to support the Vulnerable User Bill (SB 5326) by visiting www.tinyurl.com/vulnerableuser.

About Cascade Bicycle Club:

Founded in 1970, Cascade Bicycle Club is a 13,000+ member, nonprofit organization based in Seattle, Washington, serving more than half a million cyclists in the Puget Sound community. The club is operated by a volunteer Board of Directors, more than 20 professional staff, and thousands of volunteers and is the largest organization of its kind in the United States. More information about Cascade Bicycle Club’s advocacy, commute and education programs is available online at www.cascade.org or by calling (206) 522-3222.

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MEDIA CONTACT

David Hiller, Advocacy Director
Cascade Bicycle Club
206-227-0006
david.hiller@cascadebicycleclub.org

This month marks Cascade Bicycle Club’s third session advocating in Olympia for safer and more accessible bicycling in Washington state. Coming up are three critical opportunities to make a difference.

The Vulnerable User Bill is our top priority this year, and it is scheduled for a hearing on Friday, Jan. 21 at 1:30 p.m. in the state Senate Judiciary Committee. Please join us if you can and sign in favor of the bill. Please RSVP by email and let us know if you would like to join a carpool, and we will do our best to accommodate you.

The Vulnerable User Bill has changed a great deal since it was developed a few years ago. We were skeptical when Sen. Adam Kline said at the Traffic Justice Summit in 2008 that bills generally take three years to pass through the judiciary committee.

Lo and behold, we are in our third year. We continue to learn more about the intricacies of judicial administration as we grow support among police and the courts. Last year we came within minutes of the bill reaching the floor of the Senate before time ran out at a critical cutoff date. Stakeholder groups have suggested changes that clarify the role of the courts and lower administrative costs, but the substance is nearly identical to last year’s substitute bill language. Last year’s Frequently Asked Questions are a good primer on the goals and ramifications of this legislation.

Next Friday, many of the hearing attendees will be family members or victims of tragic crashes, and they will need our support.  Stay tuned for more bill information, which will be posted here on the blog.

Also, next Monday, Jan. 17, there is a hearing for the Complete Streets bill, which includes a state grant program to create safer state highways in places where they serve as main streets in small towns.  The bill also adds Complete Streets standards to consider all forms of transportation – including bicycling – when reconstructing state roads. You can sign up if you are free for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday at the Transportation Choices Coalition website.

Finally, Thursday, Feb. 10 is Transportation Advocacy Day, this year’s best opportunity to meet your legislators and personally advocate for pro-cycling legislation and funding for biking, walking and transit projects. Please join Cascade Bicycle Club, Transportation Choices Coalition and many other organizations at United Churches (110 11th Ave SE, Olympia) at 9 a.m. and become a lobbyist for a day.

We’ll gather at the church in the morning for guest speakers and small-group sessions so you get all the detailed information you need to lobby successfully for our 2011 priorities. We will spend the afternoon meeting with legislators. Carpools from Seattle to Olympia and shuttles from the Lacey Amtrak station will be available. To RSVP for the day’s events, visit this page on the Transportation Choices Coalition website.

Thank you for being an advocate, and we hope to see you in Olympia!

Two weeks ago, we watched as the Vulnerable Roadway User Bill died on the Senate calendar. Today, however, hope is alive. SB 5838 may be officially dead, but the law’s language is being kept alive as an amendment to HB 3001. 

Tomorrow, Friday, March 5 at 5pm is the final cutoff in Olympia in this year’s short legislative session. It’s our last chance to pass HB 3001. Developed by the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, the bill expands bike and pedestrian safety education in traffic schools for bad drivers. It also includes our Vulnerable User Bill in an amendment.

Please call 1-800-562-6000 today. Ask your senator to vote for House Bill 3001. The bill passed overwhelmingly in the house – let’s not let it die, too.

A big thanks to the following senators who continue to advocate for this bill, and worked to produce the amendment:

Sen. Joe McDermott
Sen. Adam Kline
Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles
Sen. Chris Marr

At this stage, it’s too late for an email. Please take a minute to look up your senator here or call the legislative hotline and leave this message: “Senator, please support House Bill 3001 and the leadership amendment.”

Cascade Bicycle Club is in Olympia, working hard to build support for the HB 3001. We need your help today to get it passed.

A bad hearing, followed by a mad scramble for signatures, followed by disingenuous fiscal note by the Office of Administrator of Courts, followed by egregious mismanagement of Senate floor sessions – including the need to revote time consuming and controversial bills – all conspired against the Vulnerable User bill. Despite broad support and the votes necessary for passage, the bill died in the Senate at cutoff on February 16.

Thank you to everyone who worked hard for the Vulnerable User Bill. You testified, you made phone calls, you emailed, you wrote letters. The issue won’t go away, and we made significant progress over last year, but that’s little comfort to the hundreds of families who will suffer grief and loss, and continue to ask: “Is this justice?”