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LMB Bike Advocacy Center  |
Please contact your legislature today on the following important issues! To find out who your Representatives and Senators are visit: www.vote-smart.org. |
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| LMB's Current Advocacy Priorities |
Ask your Legislator to support
SB 529 and SB 530 to make roads safer for cyclists
Senator Tom George (R-Kalamazoo) introduced Senate Bills 529 and 530 on April 30th 2009. These bills will enhance penalties for moving violations causing physical injury or death to bicyclists and other vulnerable roadway users.
NOTE: LMB expects House companion bills to be introduced in early May of 2009.
These bills will make Michigan roadways safer for bicyclists and all vulnerable users of our taxpayer-funded road system.
Bill Excerpts:
(1) A “VULNERABLE ROADWAY USER” IS DEFINED AS A PEDESTRIAN OR A PERSON OPERATING A NONMOTORIZED TRANSPORTATION DEVICE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO A BICYCLE).
(2) A PERSON WHO COMMITS A MOVING VIOLATION AND AS A RESULT CAUSES INJURY TO A VULNERABLE ROADWAY USER ON A HIGHWAY WHO IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THIS ACT IS GUILTY OF A MISDEMEANOR PUNISHABLE BY IMPRISONMENT FOR NOT MORE THAN 1 YEAR OR A FINE OF NOT MORE THAN $1,000.00, OR BOTH.
(3) A PERSON WHO COMMITS A MOVING VIOLATION AND AS A RESULT CAUSES DEATH TO A VULNERABLE ROADWAY USER ON A HIGHWAY WHO IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THIS ACT IS GUILTY OF A FELONY PUNISHABLE BY IMPRISONMENT FOR NOT MORE THAN 15 YEARS OR A FINE OF NOT MORE THAN $7,500.00, OR BOTH.
> Download Issue Paper
> Read Complete Bill Language (available online after 5/2/09 once they have been read into the public record)
Please write your Senator today and ask them to support SB 529 &530!
Click here for a sample letter and a link to find your Representative. Also, please make sure to thank your legislator if he/she is sponsoring or co-sponsoring one of these bills, or commits to voting for it. Copy LMB with any letter of support you receive.
Ask your Legislator to support
SB 531 - Driver Education Provider and Instructor Act
(Driver Training Bicycle Safety Component)
SB 531 was introduced by Senator George (R-Kalamazoo) on April 30th, 2009. It states that "classroom instruction shall include information concerning the laws pertaining to bicycles and shall emphasize awareness of the operation of bicycles on the streets, roads, and highways of this state."
LMB recognizes that creating a culture where both bicyclists and automobiles respectfully share the road requires educating drivers from day one about bicyclist’s rights on Michigan roadways. Failing to include a bike safety curriculum within the drivers education program is a missed opportunity to make Michigan roadways safer for all users.
> Download Issue Paper
> Read Complete Bill Language (available online after 5/2/09 once they have been read into the public record)
Write your Senator today in support of SB 531. (Sample letter coming soon)
Find your Senator
NOTE: LMB expects companion house bills with the same language to be introduced in early May of 2009. We'll keep you posted.
LMB Supports the Following Bills That Place Limitations on Cell Phone Use/Text Messaging While Driving Legislation
HB 4362 (ROCCA, R-District 30, Sterling Heights) – Introduced 2/19/09, referred to Trans. Com.
HB 4369 (POLODORI, D-District 15, Dearborn) – Introduced 2/19/09, referred to Trans. Com.
HB 4394 (GONZALES, D-District 49, Flint) – Introduced 2/24/09, referred to Trans. Com.
LMB endorses the efforts of the National Safety Council to urge governors and legislators in all 50 states to ban cell phone use while driving. LMB recently submitted testimony in support of HB 4362, 4369 and 4394 which all deal with putting limitations on text messaging and cell phone use while driving.
While the LMB supports all three bills, we encourage the removal of "secondary action" language in both HB 4369 and 4394 that makes the enforcement of this prohibition contingent upon another traffic infraction.
We as a society, need to address and reinforce that driving requires full concentration on the road. Studies have shown that drivers who use cell phones are much more likely to be in an accident. When bicyclists are involved, these accidents tend to have fatal outcomes. In addition, expert studies clearly conclude that using a hand-free cell phone while driving is just as dangerous as using a hand-held phone. Thus, LMB urges the Michigan Legislature to amend these pieces of legislation to ban all forms of cellular technology use while driving, including the use of hands free devices. Bicyclists and other vulnerable roadway users such as pedestrians, children, the elderly and those who use mobility devices deserve to be protected from inattentive drivers. No one should be injured or killed because of avoidable distractions. Bicyclists have a legal right to ride on Michigan roads and deserve these simple protections.
- Talking on any type of cell phone while driving quadruples the risk of an accident, and is equivalent to driving with a blood alcohol content of .10 (i.e. legally drunk). (1997 New England Journal of Medicine examination of hospital records and 2005 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study linking crashes to cell phone records.)
- There is no difference in the cognitive distraction between hand-held and hands-free devices. (Simulator studies at the U. of Utah support this finding.)
- Cell phone use contributes to an estimated 6 percent of all crashes, which equates to 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year. (Harvard Center of Risk Analysis)
- 80 percent of crashes are related to driver inattention. There are certain activities that may be more dangerous than talking on a cell phone, however, cell phone use occurs more frequently and for longer durations than other, riskier behaviors. Thus, the #1 source of driver inattention is cell phones. (Virginia Tech 100-car study for NHTSA)
> Look Up Bills
Write your Senator today in support of SB 4362, 4369 and 4394
Find your Senator
Stop the Raid on Act 51 Non-motorized Funding
The League of Michigan Bicyclists asks the Governor and Michigan Legislature to:
• Stop all attempts, by whatever means, to divert mandated 1% non-motorized funding.
• Reaffirm Michigan’s thirty-year-old commitment to mandate 1% of the Michigan Transportation fund to non-motorized transportation.
• If possible, increase funding for these most energy-efficient of all transportation modes as ways to cut Michigan’s and America’s “oil addiction.”
Learn More About Act 51 Non-motorized Funding
> Download Issue Paper(Word)
Complete the Streets
The League of Michigan Bicyclists asks the State of Michigan to:
• Require the State roadway system to accommodate safely all users of the public right-of-way, including pedestrians, people requiring mobility aids, bicyclists, and drivers and passengers of transit vehicles, trucks, automobiles and motorized cycles.
• Require all MDOT employees involved in planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation of the State transportation system fully consider the needs of non-motorized travelers.
• Require all recipients of Act 51 Funds to adhere to the state’s “Complete Streets” (see first bullet, above).
Learn More About Complete Streets
> Download Issue Paper (Word)
