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Sonoma County Ordinance Aims to “Increase Access to Justice” for Bicyclists
The Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition (SCBC) has responded to an incident of road rage by focusing attention on bicyclist harassment and working to pass an ordinance to protect harassed bicyclists.
On August 16, bicyclist Toraj Soltani was chased onto a golf course by a motorist with a history of moving violations. The motorist was found thanks, in part, to a harassment reporting system created by the group in 2006 and currently faces criminal charges. As a result, the group launched its “Protect Us All” campaign to preserve and protect Sonoma County as a great place to ride a bike.
Building upon laws passed in Los Angeles, Berkeley, and Sunnyvale, California; as well as Washington D.C., the SCBC drafted an ordinance and is campaigning for its adoption by cities within Sonoma County and by the County. Since beginning the campaign the group has received the endorsement of the editorial staff of the local newspaper; secured $5,000 for a study of the ordinance by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors; and won a public hearing from the Sebastopol City Council in December. In addition, several other cities are looking at the ordinance and may take steps to adopt it, including Windsor and Sonoma, two bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Communities.
The ordinance proposed by SCBC differs significantly from the League’s model vulnerable road user law in that it provides for civil, rather than criminal, action. Sandra Lupien, SCBC’s Outreach Director, says that the ordinance will work because “you don’t even have to file a police report” and will not create additional work for local law enforcement. It supplements other civil laws that might allow a bicyclist to recover for injuries by providing for damages at three times the rate of actual damages, if there’s been a violation based on the behavior listed in the ordinance. This gives an extra incentive for attorneys to represent bicyclists in civil actions.
A bicycle is much cheaper than a car, so collisions tend to result in lower actual damages and attorneys, who usually receive a portion of the damages recovered in a civil suit, are unlikely to represent bicyclists because of the low total of damages from a typical bicycle collision. Bicyclists, and other vulnerable road users, currently lack access to our civil justice system because they are not surrounded by an expensive motor vehicle, laws such as the SCBC’s proposed ordinance address this disparity to access by putting a value on harassing and injuring behavior.
To learn more visit: http://www.bikesonoma.org/protectusall
Ken McLeod
Legal Specialist, Advocacy Advance
Ken joined the League in 2012 after graduating from William & Mary School of Law. He is a licensed attorney in the state of Virginia. During law school he worked for a private law firm in Cambodia and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Prior to that, Ken worked at a law firm in Orange County and a legal services provider in Seattle. He graduated from Pomona College in 2007 with a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. He began using his bike regularly after college and has been car-free since February 2012.
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December 3rd, 2012 at 1:51 pm
I have to part with the enthusiasm on this one. If Harry Smith assaulted Toraj Soltani, then Harry Smith deserves a criminal prosecution, not a watered-down civil action. Furthermore, if Mr. Smith has a history of moving violations, then it seems the root cause of this assault was not the lack of civil recourse, but the lack of California taking stern action to keep Mr. Smith from his dangerous perch behind the wheel.
Thanks for bringing this up, though, Ken. Over and over, we see motorists get away with being bad actors and not being held accountable. Regardless of how cyclists confront this flaw in our justice system, we DO need to confront it. Recently, a motorist sideswiped a cyclist on a state route in Los Alamos. He was arrested for a traffic felony. I suspect that if more motorists who misbehave badly had to confront the idea of looking in the mirror at a convicted felon, or even be confronted with certain and stern loss of driving privileges, they might think twice.
December 5th, 2012 at 7:14 pm
Bicyclist’s lives may be at stake when a car hits him/her. If the car driver is not punished (severely), they probably don’t learn anything from the situation. This needs to change everywhere.
Fortunately, when I was hit by a car from behind, my injuries were not life threatening. Although the driver was charged for failing to yield right of way and failing to stop for a stop sign, the driver will probably get off “scott free” except for insurance points.