HillCusser

Opposing this amendment will help keep MD. cyclist safer!

Take Action Now!
The Maryland Legislative Session is Heating Up!

Please take action now to ask members of the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to OPPOSE SB942 which makes major changes to the recent law that safeguards bikers, pedestrians, vulnerable users and all who use roads and waterways.

Please click here to sign the alert that opposes this bill.
On Tuesday, March 20, the State Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee will hold a hearing to discuss SB942. This bill makes major changes to the wording of the law – Criminally Negligent Manslaughter – by Vehicle or Vessel (Maryland law §2-210). As a result of this law, people who cause fatalities because they drive in a criminally negligent manner, may face jail time and/or stiffer fines rather than merely paying a few hundred dollars in traffic court. We do NOT want this law to be changed!

SB942 would change the definition of a “vehicle” to exclude a “motor vehicle,” and it mentions a very narrow list of reprehensible acts. This would mean that someone who drives a car, bus, SUV, or truck and takes unjustifiable risks that cause a fatality would pay a few traffic fines through traffic court. This bill also removes a prosecutor’s ability to use good judgment to bring to trial those who have caused a fatality by driving in a criminally negligent way.


Bike Maryland has worked tirelessly for many years as legislators struggled to find the best wording that would close the previous gap in Maryland law. The passage of the bill that enacted Criminally Negligent Manslaughter – by Vehicle or Vessel closed that loophole and gave Marylanders some comfort in knowing that, over time, our roads will be safer because people are being held accountable for egregious, risky driving behaviors. If SB942 passes, there will, again, be a loophole in Maryland law that will let criminally negligent drivers get away with manslaughter. We know that cyclists and pedestrians are most vulnerable to risk taking drivers.

Please click here to sign the alert that opposes this bill.

https://bikemd.org/page.php?id=462

You will be telling them:

Prosecutors need to continue to have the ability to hold drivers accountable for causing the death of another as a result of criminally negligent driving,
Drivers who cause fatalities because they take unjustifiable risks when they drive need to be held accountable for their actions and not simply pay a few traffic citations.
The public needs to know that there are serious consequences for risk taking behaviors when driving so that Maryland roads will be safer, in the long run.

EastOfMidnight

This is important! Please take the time to respond to your legislators. I also urge you to cc your local senator and reps if they are not on the committee.