{"id":620,"date":"2011-03-30T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-30T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/2011\/03\/30\/the-mutual-responsibilities-bill-whats-up\/"},"modified":"2011-03-30T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-30T15:00:00","slug":"the-mutual-responsibilities-bill-whats-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2011\/03\/30\/the-mutual-responsibilities-bill-whats-up\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cMutual Responsibilities\u201d Bill\u2014What\u2019s Up?"},"content":{"rendered":"
The legislature won\u2019t act on the proposed bill to set out drivers\u2019 and cyclists\u2019 rights and responsibilities until cyclists\u2019 concerns are met; next steps will be taken at Bike Alliance Legislative Committee early summer 2011 meeting<\/o:p><\/i><\/b><\/div>\n

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<\/a><\/div>\n

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\u201cRumors of my death,\u201d Mark Twain once remarked, \u201chave been greatly exaggerated.\u201d <\/div>\n
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The opposite might be said about the existing version of House Bill 1018<\/a>, the proposed \u201cMutual Responsibilities\u201d law introduced at the beginning of this year\u2019s legislative session. Internet rumors to the contrary, the bill isn\u2019t going anywhere, this year or next, without more input from cyclists and a thorough vetting to ensure that concerns have been met and it accomplishes its intended goals.<\/div>\n
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HB 1018 was an attempt to set out motorists\u2019 and cyclists\u2019 rights and responsibilities\u2014including more specific language about safe passing distances. The Bike Alliance\u2019s Legislative and Statewide Issues Committee, comprised of cyclists from around the state, drafted the bill; and Rep. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, agreed to be its prime sponsor. A number of other legislators joined as co-sponsors. A companion bill, SB 5193<\/a>, was introduced in the senate, with Sen. Scott White as its prime sponsor.<\/div>\n
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However, after the bill\u2019s introduction a number of cyclists raised concerns about some of its provisions, some believing that it reduced cyclists\u2019 existing rights. Because of these concerns the Bike Alliance asked the bill\u2019s sponsors not to take action on the legislation, as reported earlier on our web site\u2019s legislation page<\/a> and blog<\/a>.\u00a0 The sponsors in turn asked the legislature\u2019s Transportation Committee chairs not to schedule the bill for a hearing during the 2011 session. In fact, no legislative action has been taken on either the House or Senate versions since January.<\/div>\n
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Nothing more will happen until the Bike Alliance\u2019s Legislative and Statewide Issues Committee discusses the bill and conducts further outreach to the bicycling community. Committee members will discuss the bill at their early summer 2011 meeting, which will take place in a few months. (Check the Bike Alliance website and blog, where information on the meeting\u2019s date and location will be posted once they are confirmed.)<\/div>\n
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However, a recent post in the Seattle Likes Bikes<\/a> blog has apparently raised concerns<\/a> among some that the legislature will act on essentially the same bill next year.\u00a0 Not to worry: these fears are misplaced.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Technically, the state legislature operates on two-year cycles, each of which includes two regular legislative sessions, as explained on the Washington State Legislature\u2019s \u201coverview of the legislative process<\/a>\u201d web page.\u00a0 The 2011 legislative session is the first of the current two-year cycle. Bills that are introduced during the first regular legislative session of a cycle don\u2019t \u201cdie\u201d if they aren\u2019t acted upon; instead they carry over to the second regular session. <\/div>\n
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Thus, it\u2019s literally true that HB 1018 isn\u2019t \u201cdead.\u201d But that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that the same bill (or any bill) will be resurrected and acted upon in 2012.\u00a0 Practically speaking, this will happen only if the bill\u2019s sponsors ask the committee chairs to set some version of the bill for a hearing—and that won\u2019t happen until both the Bicycle Alliance and the bill\u2019s prime sponsors are convinced that the bill meets cyclists\u2019 needs.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In the meantime, we\u2019d like your input. Take a look at the bill and forward any comments or ideas to Bicycle Alliance Executive Director Barbara Culp at barbc@wabikes.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The legislature won\u2019t act on the proposed bill to set out drivers\u2019 and cyclists\u2019 rights […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[64,44,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bike-blogs","category-bike-issues-advocacy","category-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe \u201cMutual Responsibilities\u201d Bill\u2014What\u2019s Up? - Washington Bikes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2011\/03\/30\/the-mutual-responsibilities-bill-whats-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The \u201cMutual Responsibilities\u201d Bill\u2014What\u2019s Up? 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