Pobble.808

The following bills of interest to cyclists in Hawaii have recently been proposed. The Complete Streets proposal pertains to the City and County of Honolulu (i.e. the island of Oahu); the other three are statewide. They all sound worthwhile and I hope that Hawaii/ Honolulu cyclists will make themselves heard. The descriptions below are copied from a message I received from the Hawaii Bicycling League (www.hbl.org).


PROTECTING VULNERABLE USERS
House Bill 1666 protects vulnerable users of public roadways. Increases penalties for drivers who in committing traffic offenses kill or seriously injure cyclists, pedestrians, or public safety workers. Now these offenders receive only a traffic violation penalty despite the horrible consequences of their acts upon innocent people. increases penalties in a way that is fair to both drivers and victims. Encourages drivers to take greater care when operating around vulnerable roadway users.
FLASH: HEARING 9 a.m. Wed Feb 1 RM 309 State Capitol. Submit testimony, give testimony in person.

3 FEET PASSING LAW
House Bill 1685 requires drivers not to operate a motor vehicle closer than 3 feet from a moving bicycle. Simple, direct and highly beneficial to the safety of cyclists on the roads. Sets a standard for people to follow.

COMPLETE STREETS ORDINANCE (CITY)
The City Council Transportation Committee will hear first reading at its February meeting. Requires four affected city departments to consider the needs of all road users (cyclists, pedestrians, transit users and motorists) when constructing, reconstructing or maintaining public roads. Establishes procedures for making decisions about what infrastructure features to incorporate and for public transparency of the decision process.

MOVE OVER BILL
HB2070 requires motorists to move over 1 lane or slow down for police and emergency workers. Protects those who protect us.

WHY ACT?
Hawaii is the nation's 12th worst state in bicycle fatalities from motor vehicle crashes, 11th worst for pedestrian fatalities, and the very worst for pedestrian fatalities for those over 65 years of age. We can and must do better, and these four measures will be a huge step in the right direction.

CB HI

While I do not have a problem with the idea of this law, I do have a problem with limiting it to only police and emergency workers. Are the rest of our lives of lesser value.

The other issue is basing the law on a police officers death for which this law would have made not difference. Even with the law in place, the sleeping driver would have still been sleeping and killed the officer.

I am 98% certain that the officer killed is one that responded to a complaint I made against a JAM. The young police officer did not have a clue about cycling laws, but for the JAM - just having to talk to the police changed his attitude towards cyclist.