Texting while driving video Part 2 of 2

Part 1 of 2 posted here.

Talk to your Delegate to get law changed to help cyclists

Thanks to Bill DeSteph's work on pushing for changes in Commonwealth Law to improve cycling safety.

Open the PDF from VBGov.com to read Virginia Beach's 2010 Adopted Legislative Agenda. [52 page PDF]

It includes:

FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY

Council Member Bill DeSteph

Background Information:

State law currently provides that a driver shall not follow a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard to the speed of both vehicles and the traffic and highway conditions. The law does not, however, prohibit following too closely behind a bicycle.

Request:
Add bicycles to the list of vehicles for which it is illegal to follow too closely. See Appendix
Item 1 (page 35) for text of the requested legislative change.

And:

PASSING BICYCLES

Council Member Bill DeSteph

Background Information:

State law currently provides that a driver overtaking a bicycle shall pass at least two feet to the left of the overtaken bicycle and not proceed to the right side of the highway until safely clear of the overtaken bicycle. A nationwide movement on behalf of bicyclists has sought to broaden the clearing distance to three feet, and such changes have been enacted in several other states. This change would better protect the safety of both bicyclists and motorists.

Request:
Change the passing distance from two feet to three feet. See Appendix Item 2 (page 36) for text of the requested legislative change.

Try using Congress.org to find out who your Legislator is so you can contact them.
Virginia General Assembly Official Page.

Distracted Driving Summit in DC today & tomorrow

UPDATE: They are taking questions & answering LIVE at The Official Page.
[Lower right corner on that page.]

According to the Seattle Times:

Opening a government meeting on auto safety, the Obama administration reported Wednesday that nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in vehicle crashes connected to driver distraction, a striking indication of the dangers of using mobile devices behind the wheel.

The Official Page at DOT.gov.

We added their Twitter feed in the right column >

The City has received a complaint about Mr. Hersh's ghost bike

The headline should read instead, "The City has received a request to take down Mr. Hersh's ghost bike". There is new information. [Posted 9.24.09 @ 9:42am]



From an email it was stated:

Normally, when we receive calls on these things, we try to contact whoever put it there to talk with them about removing it since it is technically not legal in the right-of-way rather than just removing it ourselves.

Please, share your comments below.

Today is World Carfree Day

From their site:

Every September 22, people from around the world get together in the streets, intersections, and neighbourhood blocks to remind the world that we don't have to accept our car-dominated society.

If it's impossible for you not to drive today, please take extra special care to share.

A teenage texter who killed talks on video, Part 1 of 2

Texting is deadlier than drinking and driving - Utah toughens their law

From NPR.org:

"In terms of accident risk, you're more likely to be hit by someone who's text messaging than someone who's drunk," Strayer says. "And that's a pretty alarming statistic."

Head to NPR.org to listen to the audio and more importantly, to watch the entire video.

More about the Reggie Shaw case & video, and Utah's tougher law at saferoads.org:

The new law, which took effect in May, penalizes a texting driver who causes a fatality as harshly as a drunken driver who kills someone. In effect, a crash caused by such a multitasking motorist is no longer considered an “accident” like one caused by a driver who, say, runs into another car because he nodded off at the wheel. Instead, such a crash would now be considered inherently reckless.

The Hampton Roads Cyclist feed added here

We welcome & applaud Mr. Bruce Drees for sharing his RSS feed here.
[It's over there > in the right column.]

More about Bruce:

My name is Bruce and I’ve lived in Virginia Beach since 1978. I cycle a pretty wide swath of Virginia every year, from the oceans to the highlands. I own three bikes: a 2005 Cannondale R3000 road bike and a 2006 Cannondale T2000, which I use for loaded touring and commuting, and a 2008 CoMotion Speedster (tandem).

As with many cyclists, the author is a composite form – part roadie, long haul trucker, and trail rider. I make it a point to cycle as many different parts of our area as I can and in recent years have logged between 5-7K miles annually. I started this site in order to capture and share what I and many other local cyclists know about our area.

His advocacy work for safe cycling has been consistent & influential beyond his modest claims. Take advantage of Bruce's dedication & contact him to learn how to ride safer! He is one of Hampton Road's only certified League Cycling Instructors!

Thanks for sharing Bruce.

Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization Program Priorities Survey

From Bruce...

The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO) has developed this survey to gather public opinion and thoughts on the importance of certain transportation project criteria for the Project Prioritization and Selection Process methodology currently being developed. This survey will be available from September 17 - 30, 2009. Results will be tabulated and available to the public. The survey should take approximately 15 minutes:

Click to start the survey

Learn more about Hampton Road Transportation Planning Organization.

More comments about children riding bikes

From Cape Story Neighborhood Watch:

I received the following responses from other residents. The first one is really scary.

#1. I have to respond as I also saw these children riding to the playground 3 weeks ago, and one was nearly struck by a car. I ran out in front of the oncoming car while yelling loudly, to stop the car so it would not hit the child, who looked to be about 3 years old, and was with 3 other kids aged 4-7. If I see these children again I will try to find out who their parents are, as it was a very near miss (and not the car's fault, in my opinion, though cars need to be cautious), and children this young should not be unsupervised.

#2. Where are the parents?....the child does have the right of way but the child staring and
daring is not an accepted part of the formula, child or not.....get out of car, ask them
where they live and tell the parent.....simple solution, or call social services.....that always work

#3. The parents of these children need to accept responsibility for the safety of their children.

I prefer not to publish any additional comments regarding the safety of these children. Hopefully some of these children's parents will see these emails and react accordingly. No one wants to have a child in danger.