Distracted Driving–Time To Contact Your Senator
Just a shot of a vintage bike.
OK, the time is now to contact your state senator in support of this distracted driving bill, SB-12. The bill would be a step toward persuading the idiot cagers that it is not OK to be using your phone while driving and, um, oh, by the way . . . mowing down pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists while being distracted by that phone.
The bill was passed out of committee a while ago, then made its way through the Senate appropriations committee, and will now come up for a vote on the floor of the full Senate on Thursday this week. We all need to contact our senators and urge them to support it. I do admit I have an advantage here, and will not be contacting my senator. That’s because she was the sponsor of the bill. I think I can rest assured that Sen. Lois Court will vote for it. For everyone else, if you don’t know who your senator is, here is a link that will help you find out: https://leg.colorado.gov/find-my-legislator
There are also two other bills of interest that you may also want to contact your legislators about. I’ll quote from an email from Stump on these:
Also, on Tuesday, 3/12, SB19-144 (Motorcyclists & Malfunctioning Traffic Signals) will be heard by the S-T&E Committee Hearing at 2:00 PM in room 352. Reminder to contact the S-T&E Committee members ASAP and ask for them to vote yes on the bill. It’s also very important for people to show up and testify or just show “silent support†on Tuesday. (It’s a Traveling Trophy Points event too!) Please do your “grass-roots†part and attend this important hearing. Thanks.
A bill was introduced last Friday, 3/1, SB-175 (Serious Bodily Injury Vulnerable Rd. User Penalties) and it slipped by me as it’s assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee. But the word “motorcycle†in the bill caught my attention. The bill lists motorcycles as “vulnerable road users,†along with 19 other users, and causing serious bodily injury to a vulnerable road user could result in license suspension for 1 year. I’ll be watching this bill more closely as it goes to S-Jud. Committee hearing on Monday, 3/18. The bill can be read at: http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB19-175.
Lastly, as you know the wording in each bill has to be precise so there is no confusion as to the intent of the bill. Last year a bill was passed which changed wording in a previous bill from “and†to “or†(probably a big deal, I don’t remember). This might be helpful information for testimony as SB-144 is basically just changing some wording to make the law definable for motorcyclists. The point being is that HB19-1148 changes the maximum jail sentence for certain crimes from one year to three hundred sixty-four days. I just might have to attend the next hearing on this bill to hear why this bill has been introduced.
Biker Quote for Today
Why Motorcycles are Better than Men: Motorcycles don’t say smart-alecky dumb stuff.
Tags: distracted driving
