Bikeleague.org Blog » Enforcement http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog Blog for bikeleague Mon, 20 May 2013 18:41:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Putting the PA in safe passing http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog/2011/11/putting-the-pa-in-safe-passing/ http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog/2011/11/putting-the-pa-in-safe-passing/#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:50:58 +0000 Darren http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog/?p=6274 …Or rather putting the safe passing in PA. That is what Pennsylvania Walks and Bikes and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia are trying to do.

Photo by Bruce Dean

In general, safe passing laws raise awareness among drivers that they need to 1. expect bicyclists on the road, 2. respect bicyclists’ space on the road, and 3. provide cyclists plenty of space when passing. In the event of a crash, the law gives law enforcement a clear charge: if there was contact, the driver did not provide sufficient lateral distance.

The Pennsylvania House has passed HB 170, the safe bicycle passing bill. According to the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, the law would protect cyclists in the following ways:

  • Every car that passes a bike must give a minimum of 4-feet of clearance
  • It will be against the law for a motor vehicle driver to pass a bicyclist and then veer sharply in front of forcing you to jam on your brakes to avoid injury
  • It will be legal to ride a bike on the public road at less than the minimum speed
  • It will be legal for a driver to pass a bicyclist when it is safe to do so by crossing over a double line
Residents of Pennsylvania should urge their state Senator to vote for the law without amendment.

 

See a map highlighting the states with safe passing laws.
My Signature

Darren Flusche
League Policy Director

Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.


]]> http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog/2011/11/putting-the-pa-in-safe-passing/feed/ 5 S.C. Driver Convicted of Felony for Killing Cyclist http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog/2011/10/s-c-driver-convicted-of-felony-for-killing-cyclist/ http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog/2011/10/s-c-driver-convicted-of-felony-for-killing-cyclist/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:56:06 +0000 Meghan http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog/?p=6083 On October 1, 2010, 15 cyclists left Outspokin’ bike shop in Augusta, Ga. on their weekly ride across the state border intoMatthew Burke Image Aiken, S.C. A truck, driven by Daniel Johnson, collided with the group and injured four cyclists and tragically left one other, Dr. Matthew Burke, critically injured with severe head trauma. After 128 days in a coma on life support, Dr. Burke passed away on February 6, 2011. The Palmetto Cycling Coalition and South Carolina cycling attorney Peter Wilborn worked on the case, and Johnson was charged with reckless homicide on February 8, 2011. After eight months of investigation and legal wrangling, Johnson admitted to his crime yesterday, October 17 and pled guilty to felony manslaughter. Johnson was taken immediately into custody and will be sentenced today, Tuesday, October 18th.

“Matt Burke’s legacy is that drivers can and should be treated as criminals for killing cyclists. Throughout the country, cycling deaths are regularly dismissed by law enforcement as mere traffic ‘accidents.’ But often they are not accidental, the needless fatalities are tragic consequences of reckless driving and lawless drivers,” Wilborn writes on his BikeLaw.com blog. “The driver’s felony conviction here proves to police, policymakers and drivers to take cycling safety seriously. This case from South Carolina is an example of how to do it right.”

Johnson claimed to have been distracted while reaching for something. Dr. Burke, a U.S. Army major and orthopedic surgeon, had been home from Iraq for about a year. “The police originally said it was just an accident,” says Wilborn. “We asked the police to just consider the data, and you know what? They listened. They did their job … and charged the driver with reckless homicide — the most serious thing that a driver could be charged with.” The South Carolina Highway Patrol and the Aiken County Solicitor’s office performed the investigation.

Dr. Burke is survived by his wife Bonnie and 1-year-old daughter, Anna. Dr. Burke was only 38. Paul Burke, the cyclist’s brother, stated on Wilborn’s blog: “Today’s felony conviction establishes the criminal responsibility of Daniel Johnson for the senseless death of Matthew P. Burke. Dr. Burke was riding legally in a group of fifteen cyclists when he and four other riders were struck from behind by Mr. Johnson on a long, flat straight road in broad daylight.”

To learn more about improving cycling safety and police enforcement, read “Enforcement: The Final Frontier” in the July/August issue of American Bicyclist magazine.

My Signature

Meghan Cahill
League Director of Communications

Cahill joined the League in December 2008 and has a BA in Media Communications with a concentration in Italian Studies from the College of Charleston.


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