Senate Transportation Revenue Package – A Good Start to Grow Bicycling Statewide

Washington Bikes testifies today in support of the Washington State Senate transportation revenue package. The proposed package still needs additional improvements to grow active transportation investments but today’s legislation represents an encouraging start and recognizes the need for state-level investments in biking and walking.

Today Washington Bikes signs on in support of the Washington State Senate package proposal for additional state-level transportation funding and appropriations. We thank the bill sponsors for recognizing the value of state investments in projects that help accomplish many of our priorities:

  • advance safety,
  • improve health for all ages,
  • revitalize main streets in towns and cities across the state, and
  • grow the outdoor recreation economy, in which bicycle riders spend over $3 billion each year.rp_Bicycle-Al-10-20-11-12032.jpg

As is true of all its predecessors, this proposal is not perfect. The various transportation revenue proposals that have come out since 2013 have gone through many iterations and drawn various critiques, including widespread concerns about whether or not states are investing enough in maintenance, preservation and operations. Especially problematic, from 2009-11 Washington state was one of the leaders in focusing heavily on expansion and not fixing decaying roads, and we called for a “fix it first” emphasis in our work on the last round of transportation revenue proposals. Most recently questions have been raised about the shape of transit funding and how this proposal impacts some of the climate policy priorities of Governor Inslee, as well as provisions in the package that impact biking and walking investments.

Many of the recent issues raised go beyond the scope of Washington Bikes work to grow bicycling statewide. Washington Bikes and our over 40 coalition supporters in economic development, public health, and outdoor recreation recognize there is still more work to be done and larger investments to be made for this legislation to create a package that improves physical activity, makes safer streets, and improves economies statewide.

But put in perspective, this package represents a significant shift from discussions in the 2013 negotiations where active transportation investments were largely absent from the State Senate discussions. The current proposal includes a combined $281 million in the investments that Washington Bikes directly champions. This level of proposed funding represents an encouraging bipartisan start to supporting investments that foster healthy communities through biking and walking—the kind of investments that represent our top legislative priority.

Today’s Senate Transportation Committee hearing represents the beginning of a protracted legislative process with multiple opportunities for amendments and additional discussion about the priorities of Washingtonians. Those priorities were clearly expressed in a survey last fall that found overwhelming voter support for making streets safer for our children. Projects that support Safe Routes to School, bicycle and pedestrian safety, and complete streets must be a part of the legislative dialogue at every phase of the negotiations.

Mom Tonya shared this with us, saying, "Kids out of school, cold & rainy, time to ride!"

Mom Tonya shared this with us, saying, “Kids out of school, cold & rainy, time to ride!”

The projects we care about benefit Washingtonians. Safe Routes to School projects have made our children safer and more active in hundreds of schools around the state in places like Wenatchee, White Salmon, University Place, Vancouver, and Airway Heights. A bicycle and pedestrian project will let residents and visitors in Sultan safely walk and bike, while doing double duty as a utility corridor for water and sewer and a key emergency connector in the event that the seismically unfit US 2 bridge fails. The Whitehorse Trail will connect Arlington and Darrington through the SR 530 slide and will serve as a new economic development engine for the Stillaguamish Valley’s outdoor recreation economy.

Countless other examples around the state embedded in the projects we continue to advocate for show the benefit and strong return on state investment to residents and visitors alike.

As the transportation revenue debate unfolds, Washington Bikes looks forward to working with the Senate and House to grow these investments further. We will move forward with our coalition that continues to focus on expanding investments for healthy and active kids, as well as with the countless businesses and communities statewide that support investments that connect communities via biking and walking. We appreciate Senator King, Hobbs, Fain, and Liias’s intent and their good start with this legislation and look forward to advocating for the essential next steps to grow bicycling statewide.

Join us and sign the petition to fund bicycle safety and better bicycle connections!

Petition: Fund Bicycle Safety & Better Bike Connections

Getting more people on bikes is good for our personal health, local businesses, our towns, our economy, and the air we breathe.

That’s why we call on the governor and the state legislature to make safer bicycling a top priority and to invest in more bike lanes and trails to create a complete network of bicycle connections.

First
Last
(Optional) Providing your street address lets us identify your legislative district and send you information about issues and votes in which your state legislators play a key role when they come up.

Posted in Advocacy, Complete Streets, Economic Impact, Funding/Policy, Infrastructure, Issues & Advocacy, Legislature, Safe Routes to School, Safety, Transportation | 2 Comments

Washington Bike Summit: Featured Speaker Samantha Ollinger

Samantha Ollinger, Executive Director, Bike San Diego, will be a featured speaker at the 2015 Washington Bike Summit. Image by Allison Don.

Samantha Ollinger, Executive Director, Bike San Diego, will be a featured speaker at the 2015 Washington Bike Summit. Image by Allison Don.

Her voice as a bike blogger was fresh, forceful, and funny. When I first read her personal blog, Brown Girl in the Lane, I thought, “This is one I want to make sure I read regularly.” I was a volunteer bike advocate thanks to help from the staff of the statewide bike advocacy nonprofit, organizing Bike to Work Week activities in Spokane and spending most of my spare time thinking about bike transportation and policy. Compiling a list of women’s bike blogs as a hobby led me to Sam.

Fast forward a couple of years. I’ve joined that same statewide bike advocacy organization as executive director and I’m at a leadership retreat put on by the Alliance for Biking and Walking. I meet a young woman who has just founded something called Bike San Diego. She says something that rings a bell. I look at her and say, “Wait, are you Brown Girl in the Lane?”

Sure enough. Thanks to the great national network that the Alliance helps foster, I got to know her in person. At the League of American Bicyclists National Women’s Bicycling Summit, I saw her engage a roomful of advocates and leaders on the importance of political engagement. She was a featured speaker at Future Bike in 2014. She was nominated for the Alliance for Biking & Walking’s Advocate of the Year award that same year and her organization took home the Advocacy Organization of the Year trophy.

From her nomination for the Advocate of the Year Award: No one has done more to advance bike advocacy in a major California city in just a few years than Sam Ollinger. With her forceful, precise style, Sam has altered the transportation conversation and the direction of public policy in California’s second most populous city. In 2013, Sam oversaw the passage of a progressive $312 million city bike plan update and a regional decision to front-load $200 million of bike-ped investments. Thanks in part to Sam’s influence, 2013 mayoral candidates competed with one another over who was more bike-friendly, the City of San Diego has officially embraced design guidelines for protected bike lanes, and thousands of San Diegans are informed and activated online. Sam’s work with BikeSD has challenged longstanding bike advocates to up their game, and they have responded strongly, creating additional momentum to move San Diego towards robust active transportation.

If you’d like to be able to say similar things about your hometown, you’ll appreciate the energy and inspiration Sam brings as a keynote speaker at the 2015 Washington Bike Summit. Read Ollinger’s bio below and register for the Summit today.

***

Samantha Ollinger is the founder of BikeSD, a nonprofit cycling advocacy organization whose mission is to transform San Diego’s streetscape to be a world-class bicycle friendly city. As the Executive Director, Ollinger sees San Diego exemplifying the ideal urban city that civic leaders around the world can only aspire to. Bicycling is one of the many avenues to lead San Diego onto the world stage and BikeSD is committed to changing and executing the city’s narrative that will drive this transformation.

In under three years, thanks to Ollinger’s leadership, BikeSD’s efforts have resulted in having San Diego’s mayoral candidates in the past two election cycles competing with one another over who was more bike-friendly (the current mayor constantly refers to himself as a “cyclist” and talks about riders’ needs on the road).

In 2013, Sam oversaw the passage of a progressive $312 million city bike plan update and a regional decision to front-load $200 million of bike-ped investments in historically neglected neighborhoods. BikeSD pushed for San Diego to become a member city of NACTO, pushed to have the city adopt the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, initiated and helped with the launch of the city’s first open streets event, CicloSDias, advocated to have the city to create the city’s first Bicycle Advisory Committee (first promised in 2002), and won the 2014 Advocacy Organization of the Year award from the Alliance for Biking and Walking.

An immigrant to the U.S. from India and a graduate of Temple University with a Business Administration degree with a focus on Accounting, Ollinger evaluates the movement around livability through a financial lens.

Thank You, Sponsors!

The Washington Bike Summit presented by Washington Bikes is made possible by our outstanding sponsors:

  • Platinum: Cascade Bicycle Club, Group Health
  • Gold: Washington State Dept. of Transportation
  • Silver: Raleigh, People for Bikes
  • Bronze: Alta Planning + Design, Foundation for Healthy Generations, Mithun Design, Ortlieb USA, REI, SRAM, Transpo Group
  • Other support: QBP
Posted in News | 1 Comment

Moving Forward and Amending – SB 5438 Update on Faulty Traffic Signals Bill

Washington Bikes’ priority legislation, SSB 5438, has moved out of the Senate Transportation Committee. The legislation provides bicycle riders a safe and reasonable procedure to proceed through broken traffic signals that fail to detect bicycles.

Late last month we reported on Senate Bill (SB) 5438, sponsored by Senator Curtis King (R-Yakima), that builds on legislation passed in 2014 allowing for motorcycles to stop and proceed or make left-hand turns through traffic control signals that do not detect motorcycles under certain very limited conditions with a specific protocol that is clear and understood by law enforcement.

This year’s original bill sought to include bicycles and electric-assisted bicycles to the 2014 legislation. By the time of SB 5438’s hearing on February 2, additional feedback came forward to address two additional policy improvements: (1) to incorporate concerns that the composition (such as carbon fiber bikes that are even more difficult to detect) of bikes can sometimes be problematic and should be recognized in this bill; and (2) that a final vehicle – mopeds – should be included in the bill to make this section of state law inclusive of more vehicles (motorcycles, bicycles, and mopeds) that regularly experience troubles with traffic signal detection on Washington state roads and streets.

Dialogue at February 2’s Senate Transportation Committee public hearing clarified these additions to the legislation and led to agreement on next steps related to the bill.

The following day, executive action was taken on Substitute Senate Bill (SSB) 5438 and the Senate Transportation Committee passed the bill to the Senate Rules Committee. We now await action in the Rules Committee before it goes to the Senate floor for discussion and a vote.

[Tweet “Glad to see #WAleg progress on faulty traffic signals. Bill helps bicyclists.”]

[Tweet “Thx Sen Curtis King for sponsoring bill on faulty traffic signals. I’m w/@WAbikes on this.”]

————————————————————————————————————————-

Care about better bicycling in Washington? When you join others like you by making your tax-deductible donation you help us keep working for you.

 

Posted in Advocacy, Funding/Policy, Infrastructure, Issues & Advocacy, News, Transportation | 1 Comment

SB 5724: Safe Routes to School Now and Into the Future

Washington Bikes priority legislation to create a federal and state funding floor for Safe Routes to School is up for public hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee Tuesday.

Bike to School DaySince its inception in 2004 as a pilot project that Washington Bikes lobbied for and helped establish, the Safe Routes to School state grant program has built projects in 177 schools, making walking and biking conditions safer for 77,000 children. Safe Routes to School educational programs funded by the state have reached 42 school districts providing safe walking and biking skills to over 55,000 middle school-aged children.

Rates of children’s active commuting to school are important reflections of infrastructure, safety, and community attitudes as well as indicators of kids’ future transportation choices as adults. In the United States, these rates are steadily declining, as the proportion of kids aged 5-14 walking or biking to school plummeted from 48% to 13% between 1969 and 2009. This has serious implications for our future physical and mental health, and health care expenditures.

Senate Bill (SB) 5724, sponsored by Senator Andy Billig (D-Spokane) and 12 additional Republicans and Democrats seeks to ensure the continuation of this important safety and health program by codifying federal funding at the level provided in the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium and state funding commitments made as part of the 2012 additive transportation fee increases.

This bill — for the first time in the existence of the state Safe Routes to School grant program — would create a floor of state and federal funding of approximately $17 million per biennium that schools, cities, and towns can count on as they look to build safer sidewalks, bikeways, and intersections to connect children with their schools.

Senator Andy Billig (Center) wants to ensure that more Washington state children can walk and bike to school safely

Senator Andy Billig (Center) wants to ensure that more Washington state children can walk and bike to school safely

SB 5742 helps guarantee that we continue to grow investments that already show results.  At schools with completed projects, the number of children biking and walking has increased by over 20 percent. Safe Routes to School projects have brought new infrastructure and safety improvements, along with reductions in motor vehicle citations. Washington state Safe Routes to School investments have added 75,000 feet of new sidewalks near schools, too. So far no collisions involving bicyclists or pedestrians have been recorded at Safe Routes to School project locations after project completion.

As part of the Safe Routes, Healthy Kids Washington Bikes and its partners are actively working to secure and increase sustainable funding for these projects in Washington state. Filling the unmet need for backlogged Safe Routes to School projects statewide result in multiple benefits:

  • Regular physical activity is achieved via biking & walking to school.
  • Kids who walk to school are more alert, eager and ready to learn.
  • Streets are safer when more people walk and bike on them.
  • Reduced transportation costs – both for parents and school districts

Supporting SB 5724 is central to the campaign’s mission to support safe routes and healthy kids in Washington state. Join us in asking the legislature to focus on safety and complete connections.

[Tweet “Thx @andybillig for #SafeRoutesNow #WAleg investment for active healthy kids. I’m w/@WAbikes on this.”]

Not all co-sponsors have Twitter accounts but many do. Add to your thank-you so they see you care about this bill, especially if one is your state senator: @senator_Rivers@SenMarkoLiias @senatorfain@pamroach1 @dsfrockt @bobhasegawa@pramilaj @cyrushabib. No Twitter account: Steve Hobbs, Christine Rolfes, Karen Fraser

—————————————————————————————————————————–

Care about better bicycling in Washington? When you join others like you with your tax-deductible donation you make our work possible.

Posted in Advocacy, Federal, Funding/Policy, Infrastructure, Issues & Advocacy, Legislature, News, Safe Routes to School | 1 Comment

“Year of the Bike” Starts Rolling in Tacoma

The time is now and the place is here. Downtown On the Go is excited to finally announce:

2015 is the Year of the Bike in Tacoma.

Downtown On the Go will roll out the Year of the Bike on Feb. 12 with a free screening of the bicycle documentary AfterMass: Bicycling in a Post-Critical Mass Portland.  The film will be followed by a community discussion on how positive changes to the cycling culture can happen in Tacoma. The discussion will be led by Joe Biel, director/co-producer of the film, Elly Blue, author of Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save The Economy, and Downtown On the Go’s Bike Coordinator Matt Newport. Details about this event can be found here.

The Year of the Bike premise is simple: if we want to see more people biking to work or to school or to shops in downtown Tacoma, they first need to make some shorter bike trips within their own neighborhood. Through rides, resources, advocacy, and social media (#yearofthebike), anyone can make it the Year of the Bike. A year-long poster campaign and outreach to local bicycle groups, clubs and supporters invites those who already ride around Tacoma to be Bicycle Ambassadors to the rest of the city.

biketomarket3 Ways You Can Make 2015 the #YEAROFTHEBIKE

1. Ride Your Bike! Bike to school, bike to a friend’s house, bike to the coffee shop, bike anywhere. Ride by yourself or ride in a group. It doesn’t have to be far or difficult. Find and share ride ideas at Bike253.com and track all of your bike trips at piercetrips.com.

2. Make Your Voice Heard. Tell our City Council that you want a city built for bikes. Citizens’ Forums are held every second Tuesday of the month at the Tacoma Municipal Building and give you an open-mic opportunity to speak directly to your elected city officials.

3. Be a Bicycle Ambassador. Downtown On the Go is looking for active members of the biking community to help grow the number of people on bikes in Tacoma. To get involved, call us at 253-682-1739, or send us an email at info@downtownonthego.org.

wayfindingatbikecounterWhy now? Why Tacoma? Through a mix of infrastructure, planning, and cultural shift, bicycling is again becoming a normalized form of transportation in our city. Tacoma’s cycling history dates back to the 1880s, when the Tacoma Wheelmen’s Bicycle Club was originally founded to help fund street and sidewalk projects to improve bicycle mobility in downtown Tacoma. Like other cities, interest in bicycles waned during the mid 20th century, but during the last decade Tacoma has seen a growing resurgence of bicycle use.

 

Thislaneisyourlane

The recent push for infrastructure led to the completion of a 13.1 mile bikeway in 2014, which traverses the entire city from North to South with wayfinding signage, crossing improvements, and embedded bike counters. Active Transportation Coordinator Diane Wiatr and her team at the City of Tacoma have followed up the infrastructure with an educational This Lane is Your Lane campaign  that reminds and informs all road users how we can share the streets.

Tacoma residents spoke on behalf of the bike community at every monthly Citizens’ Forum held in 2014. Those voices helped secure much needed funding in the City’s budget for bicycle improvement projects already identified in the Mobility Master Plan. Not only has the City Council been listening to residents who want to see more accessibility for bikes, but the Councilmembers themselves have been riding, too, as  commuters and casual ride leaders. Mayor Marilyn Strickland is  scheduled to make a formal proclamation announcing 2015 as the Year of the Bike on Feb 10 at the City Council meeting.

The community is coming together to support all of these new riders. Last fall 2nd Cycle Community Cycle Center moved into a large, permanent space in the Hilltop neighborhood, where they empower riders with the tools and knowledge needed to maintain their own bikes. Their refurbished bikes and shop time are offered on a pay-what-you-can  sliding scale, because treating the cycling community with equity is at the heart of their project.

VeloFemmes continues organizing rides and social events to encourage and motivate more women to try cycling, not only for recreation, but for transportation. Our local Kidical Mass group is starting its third season of monthly rides, teaching parents and kids to ride in the street safely with confidence and respect. Other groups like the Skid Kings and the MOB Riders are keeping biking fun for the 21+ crowd, too.

Perhaps most importantly, Tacomans are rediscovering their communities. A vibrant network of Farmers’ Markets, pocket libraries, neighborhood parks and artistic treasures are drawing residents out onto the streets and sidewalks. Bicycles are helping residents engage with their neighborhoods as they seek and experience these hidden treasures, and they’re doing it now.

Help Downtown On the Go make 2015: the Year of the Bike.

[Tweet “I’m rolling for #yearofthebike in Tacoma. Join me. #bike253”]

Posted in Advocacy, Events, News, Pierce County, Tacoma | Tagged , | Comments Off on “Year of the Bike” Starts Rolling in Tacoma

Bike Love Party Postponed to April 2

After reviewing the weather report that predicts some stiff winds in addition to 100% chance of rain, and considering the combination of wind with a welding bike art sculptor and pop-up canopies, the sponsoring organizations for the Seattle Bike Love Party decided we were better off postponing it since we didn’t want to add a fire display.

Cards with statistics about the value of biking customers that you can leave at businesses you patronize by bike are available from Cascade Bicycle Club or WA Bikes. Spread the word: Bikes mean business!

Cards with statistics about the value of biking customers that you can leave at businesses you patronize by bike are available from Cascade Bicycle Club or WA Bikes. Spread the word: Bikes mean business!

April 2 makes a great date for a bike event as the second day of 30 Days of Biking. I may not undertake another personal bike blogging ride to insanity by writing a blog post every day in April, but we’ll encourage you through social media.

We’ll also give you some of our fun “I arrived by bike” business cards to leave behind. (Want those right now? Request them on our e-news sign-up form.)

With the social media response we’ve seen to these fun informal challenges like 30 Days, #coffeeneuring, and right now Winter Bike to Work Day, we know we’ll have a great response to April 2.

Mark your calendar and get ready to start 30 Days of Biking April 1. If you’re in the Seattle area plan to come to Pioneer Square for a great bike party.

All the partners we had for Feb. 5 are committed for April 2: Zipcar SeattlePronto Cycle ShareBack Alley Bike RepairHilliard’s BeerInternational Sustainability Institute & Alley Network Project, and Washington Bikes.

And while we’re talking about bike parties here’s your early heads-up for First Thursday May 7: Washington Bikes will hold a Bike Happy Hour as one of the four that Cascade Bicycle Club promotes during National Bicycle Month.

bike love banner

 

Posted in Events, Seattle | Comments Off on Bike Love Party Postponed to April 2

Michael Bennett Rides a Bike

We can’t let this Internet meme pass us by. When Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett took a celebratory spin after the Seahawks nailed the NFC championship January 18, he thrilled the hearts of riders everywhere.

 

Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett, #72, seen from the back as he rides a bicycle borrowed from a Seattle police officer after the Seahawks won the NFC championship in overtime, Jan. 15, 2015.

This was no one-time thing, either. Bennett owns three bikes and rides regularly.

The Seattle Police Department’s Twitter account manager tweeted an awesome response to the moment:

Fans Photoshopped Bennett into classic bicycle movie moments, from carrying ET on a front basket to riding through the “Wizard of Oz” tornado.

Bennett did it again as the Seahawks prepared to take off for the Superbowl:

Bennett and the Seattle Police Foundation have worked out an arrangement that will allow the actual bike he rode to be auctioned off to benefit Bennett’s OCEAN foundation and the SPF. The program founded by Bennett (led by Hawaii Optimum Performance and St. Louis School) puts on a camp that aims to “fight obesity through community, education, activity and nutrition.”

 

Posted in Events, News, Seattle | Comments Off on Michael Bennett Rides a Bike

Registration Opens for the Washington Bike Summit

WAbikeSummit_postcard_r3Registration is open for the Washington Bike SummitThis two day summit brings together advocates for bicycling and safe streets with professionals in planning, design, engineering, health, education, and tourism. Come to Olympia March 16th and 17th, 2015 to connect and learn.

Sessions themes include:

  • bicycle safety and Vision Zero
  • economic impact of bicycles
  • bicycle infrastructure design
  • equity and inclusiveness in the bike movement
  • youth engagement

Additionally there will be professional trainings on the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide and Practical Design. During Day Two of the Summit, advocates may participate in Transportation Advocacy Day legislative visits with a coalition of people who promote bicycling, walking, transit, health, and equity.

Go to the Washington Bike Summit page to register and find the most up to date information.

A Bit of History

WAbikeSummit_logo-squareYears ago, what was then the Bicycle Alliance of Washington established the “Footprints and Bike Tracks” conference along with Bicycle Lobby Day. The lobby day evolved to become Transportation Advocacy Day, which each year brings 100-300 people to the capitol to tell legislators how important active transportation is for all of us whether we bike, walk, take transit, or drive. Somewhere along the way the conference stopped. We are reviving and reinventing the statewide conference as the Washington Bike Summit and continuing the partnership for Transportation Advocacy Day as an element of Day Two of the Summit.

Washington Bikes is thankful to Cascade Bicycle Club and Group Health Cooperative for their early sponsorship to make this conference possible. Other sponsors include REI and Washington State Department of Transportation.

Posted in News | Comments Off on Registration Opens for the Washington Bike Summit

SB 5656: Strengthening Washington’s Distracted Driving Laws

By request of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, Senator Ann Rivers (R-La Center) introduced legislation today to strengthen our state’s distracted driving laws. SB 5656 will help to protect those that walk and bike from preventable injuries and deaths caused by texting and talking while driving.

largenocellphones-png-mdPop Quiz I: What increases a driver’s crash risk by 23 times?

Answer: Texting while driving.

Pop quiz II: What increases a driver’s crash risk by four times?

Answer: Simply talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device.

Since 2010, when Washington Bikes helped lead the successful lobbying to start to reduce distracted driving, it’s even more obvious that distracted driving affects all of us. Distraction contributes to 26% of fatal crashes in Washington state.  SB 5656 will work to close loopholes and stiffen penalties to reduce this growing concern, especially as smart phones become more and more central to people’s lives. This legislation is a priority in the Washington Bikes 2015 Legislative Agenda.

It’s no surprise to most of us to learn that electronic distraction when driving is growing. A recent study by Harborview’s Dr. Beth Ebel shows that nearly one out of every ten Washington state drivers is engaged with a handheld device at any moment.

Senator Ann Rivers (R - La Center) is sponsoring a bill to strengthen distracted driving laws in Washington.

Senator Ann Rivers (R – La Center) is sponsoring a bill to strengthen distracted driving laws in Washington.

Like all traffic injuries and deaths, distracted driving is a preventable problem.

Reducing distracted driving helps create a culture of safety for drivers and the most vulnerable roads users – children, pedestrians, and bicyclists. The risks around distraction can be more intense because bicyclists and pedestrians – including children – are less visible and more prone to go unnoticed by distracted drivers, with tragic consequences.

SB 5656 improves upon the current law by broadening the definition so that any person (with much narrower exceptions) operating a motor vehicle while holding a personal wireless communications device is guilty of a traffic infraction. It closes loopholes such as being able to use one’s phone while stopped at an intersection or stoplight (currently legal), it also expands the definitions of handheld uses to ban texting and email use on smart phones. Additional violations receive twice the penalty, plus violations go on one’s driver record for insurance purposes. Finally, distracted driving would be included in Department of Licensing exams (currently they are not).

These are common sense fixes that provide law enforcement more tools to stop distracted driving and to stiffen consequences.

It’s now time to improve Washington state’s distracted driving laws. Keep in touch with us by signing-up to Washington Bikes’ alerts to help us pass this important safety legislation.

[Tweet “Thx @Senator_Rivers for making distracted driving laws stronger. I’m w/@WAbikes on this. #WAleg

————————————————————————————————————————-

Care about better bicycling in Washington? When you join others like you by making your tax-deductible donation you help us keep working for you.

Posted in Advocacy, Alert, Funding/Policy, Issues & Advocacy, Legislature, News | Comments Off on SB 5656: Strengthening Washington’s Distracted Driving Laws

Scofflaw Biking Survey (Yeah, We Said It)

bicycle traffic signal greenWe’re not fans of the term “scofflaw” as applied to people on bicycles. It implies that riding a bike is associated with breaking the law more than people who drive. In fact, a 2013 study by Portland State University professor Chris Monsere found just the opposite.

So it caught our eye when the Washington Post Wonkblog ran a Jan. 9 piece called “Let’s talk seriously about why cyclists break traffic laws,” with a link to a Scofflaw Biking Survey. Reporter Emily Badger wrote,

“Most of us, whatever mode we travel, break the law at some point, Marshall points out, whether we’re driving five miles over the speed limit, or crossing the street against the crosswalk. And yet, we tend not to treat lead-footed drivers with the same disapproval as cyclists who ride through stop signs, even though the former behavior is potentially more publicly harmful than the latter. Which raises another question: Are cyclists really more prolific scofflaws than drivers anyway?

Prof. Wesley Marshall of University of Colorado Denver, one of the researchers leading the study, sees the word quite differently. When we asked why the survey wasn’t labeled something neutral that didn’t load the dice with presuppositions, he wrote,

“In terms of using the word ‘scofflaw,’ it was very intentional. If I had called it something more general like a ‘transportation behavior survey there is no way I’d have gotten even a fraction of the respondents that we have already.  It’s a long survey, and we don’t have funding to pay people to take it — so we had to rely on a somewhat provocative title to garner a strong reaction and some online attention.

“Also, I am using the word ‘scofflaw’ in homage to its origins with the bootlegging that occurred during Prohibition (the word “scofflaw” emerged from a 1924 contest held by the Boston Herald trying to come up with a term to describe somebody who flagrantly disobeyed the Prohibition law). The intent is to reference the fact that while some people were in fact breaking the law, social norms didn’t view these people as criminals. Same goes with scofflaw cyclist…. yes, they are breaking the law — but many people (including myself in many instances) don’t also see them as criminals (similarly to how society looks at someone that goes a few miles an hour over the speed limit).”

So are you a “scofflaw” or someone exercising judgment while negotiating a system not designed for bicycles? Take the study and invite non-bicycling friends to take it too; it includes questions about driving behavior.

The survey will take about 10 or 15 minutes to complete. It asks questions about respondents’ travel patterns and experiences as bicyclists under various situations, with photos to illustrate some situations.

The survey is part of a larger study intending to better understand our transportation system and what factors might correlate with different behavior patterns. The researchers say in the survey introduction, “Findings from the study could help create streets that serve many users comfortably, safely, and efficiently.”

Important note about device differences:

  • On the desktop the survey taker will have a comment box available with each question.
  • Mobile device users get a comment box only at the end. If you take the survey on a mobile device, we suggest making notes for your comments as you go.

Take the survey now!

traffic signal showing red lightTraffic Signals and Bike Detection

Speaking of laws that don’t accommodate people on bicycles, we’re working on a bill that addresses faulty traffic signals (meaning those that don’t detect bicycles the way they should under a law we got passed in 2009).

While we have you thinking about bike laws…

Sign up for our e-news and request your copy of our pocket guide to Washington state bike laws, “Drive Aware” brochure to share with your favorite driver who doesn’t understand why we sometimes control the lane, and other materials to help us all ride heads-up.

First
Last

Posted in Alert, Attitudes, Bike Culture, Issues & Advocacy, Legal, News, Research, Safety, Transportation | 1 Comment