IIAV Comments on Motorcycle and Bicyclist Legislative Proposals
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IIAV Comments on Motorcycle and Bicyclist Legislative Proposals
Asked to participate in two separate legislative study committees, IIAV has participated and submitted comments to be included in reports to legislators. The first study, hosted by the Division of Motor Vehicles, looked to consider allowing motorcycles to lane filter/split and if so, what if any limitations there would be. The second study, hosted by the Virginia State Police, looked at allowing bicyclists to treat stop signs/lights as yield signs. Once the reports are submitted to legislators and the appropriate committee — likely the Transportation Committee in these cases — it will be up to the legislators to pursue, or not pursue legislation.
For the study related to motorcycles, IIAV and the insurance industry representatives from AAA and APCIA were in agreement that there was no safe speed for motorcycles to lane filter/split. While lane splitting is legal in California there was no compelling reason to allow such riding in Virginia. Unfortunately there were clearly anecdotal examples of lane splitting already occurring in Virginia and the police described difficulty in enforcement of such reckless driving. Further, and supported by testimony by the motorcycle representatives, if accidents occur while a motorcycle was lane splitting, they believed that the fault would lie with the motor vehicle driver “for lack of paying attention to vehicles around them.” The Virginia Trucking Association also joined the insurance industry in strongly opposing legalizing lane splitting in Virginia.
The second study, hosted by the VSP, considered allowing bicyclists to treat stop signs/lights as a yield sign. The study committee came close to agreeing to allowing such activity on a very limited basis similar to that in Delaware. Safety statistics for Virginia are notable. In 2020 alone, more than 100 pedestrians and 8 bicyclists died in traffic crashes in Virginia. That makes up nearly 15% of all traffic fatalities in Virginia. In that same period, there are more than 1,700 pedestrian and bicyclists injured in crashes. IIAV argued that given the recent concern over traffic fatalities surging, despite substantially reduced driving during the pandemic, it is not a time to be changing the rules of the road which all vehicles must comply with — both motor vehicles and bicyclists.
We will of course stay tuned on whether or not either of these issues become introduced as the 2022 legislative session gets underway.
Please send comments to Bob Bradshaw at rbradshaw@iiav.com.
