3 take action alerts listed below including taking action to strengthen the 3 foot passing law.
The Maryland 2012 General Assembly session ends in just 3 weeks. Now is the time to take action!
#1: Please click here to take action now to support House Bill 1397 that will strengthen the current "3 foot passing" law!
Ask your Maryland legislators to support House Bill 1397 - that would strengthen the “3-Foot Law” by allowing drivers to pass cyclists on the roadways at a safe distance in an otherwise non-passing zone, under certain safe conditions.
Take action now to support House Bill 1397! Delegate Jon Cardin, Chair of the Bike Caucus and a long time bicycle supporter is sponsoring this important safety legislation.
Please show Delegate Cardin that you support his pro-bicycle legislative initiatives. It only takes one minute - please don't wait and click here to take action today!
#2: Please click here to require Maryland public institutions of higher education to address bicycle and pedestrian access on public campuses! This bill was already heard in the House and now will be heard by the Senate Finance Committee.
Please support Senate Bill 977 that would require public institutions of higher education to develop, by fiscal year 2014, a facility master plan to address bicycle and pedestrian circulation on and near public campuses. Additionally, this bill would require these institutions to include in the facility master plan measures to incorporate bikeways and pedestrian facilities, as well as, promote biking and walking on public campuses.
Don't wait. Click here to take action now! Ask the Senate Finance Committee members to support Senate Bill 977.
#3: If you haven't already done so, please click here to ask members of the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and the House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee to OPPOSE Senate Bill 942 / House Bill 1405 that makes major changes to the recent law that safeguards bikers, pedestrians, vulnerable users and all who use our roads.
SB942 / HB1405 significantly changes the wording of the current Criminally Negligent Manslaughter, by Vehicle or Vessel, law (Maryland law §2-210). As a result of this law, people who cause fatalities because they drive in a criminally negligent manner, may face jail time and/or stiffer fines rather than merely paying a few hundred dollars in traffic court. We do NOT want this law to be changed!
SB942 / HB1405 would change the definition of a “vehicle” to exclude a “motor vehicle,” and it mentions a very narrow list of reprehensible acts. This would mean that someone who drives a car, bus, SUV, or truck and takes unjustifiable risks that cause a fatality would pay a few traffic fines through traffic court. This bill also removes a prosecutor’s ability to use good judgment to bring to trial those who have caused a fatality by driving in a criminally negligent way.
Bike Maryland worked tirelessly, for many years, to pass legislation to close the previous gap in Maryland law and give Marylanders some comfort in knowing that, over time, our roads will be safer because people are being held accountable for egregious, risky driving behaviors. If SB942 /HB1405 passes, there will, again, be a loophole in Maryland law that will let criminally negligent drivers get away with manslaughter. We know that cyclists and pedestrians are most vulnerable to risk taking drivers.
Please click here to sign the alert that OPPOSES this new bill.
You will be telling them:
- Prosecutors need to continue to have the ability to hold drivers accountable for causing the death of another as a result of criminally negligent driving.
- Drivers who cause fatalities because they take unjustifiable risks when they drive need to be held accountable for their actions and not simply pay a few traffic citations.
- The public needs to know that there are serious consequences for risk taking behaviors when driving so that Maryland roads will be safer, in the long run.
You can view the above bills, Bike Maryland's testimony and more by clicking here.
BIKE MARYLAND AND CYCLISTS THROUGHOUT MARYLAND THANK YOU FOR TAKING ACTION!
Thank you on behalf of Carol Silldorff, Bike Maryland's Executive Director, and Bike Maryland's Board Members and Advisors.
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