Vulnerable User laws -was- Penalty for killing bicyclist inadequate

On 2/17/2011 9:03 AM, Jeremy Kindy wrote:
> One of the comments to the original article mentioned
> "Vulnerable User" laws and another article:
> https://akpedbikealliance.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/%E2%80%A2-new-york-and-delaware-approve-vulnerable-user-laws-during-august/
>
> I think this might be a good way of handling the issue, but driver and
> cyclist education is still a big part of the equation.
>
> Jeremy


Thank you for drawing this to our attention.
I wondered how the Netherlands dealt with it.
Would love to learn more about it.
-Mark Hoagy


New York and Delaware approve “Vulnerable User” laws during August
August 30, 2010 by akpedbikealliance
https://akpedbikealliance.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/%E2%80%A2-new-york-and-delaware-approve-vulnerable-user-laws-during-august/

There’s good news out of New York and Delaware this month, as the governors
of those states signed legislation creating “Vulnerable User” laws to
protect pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchairs and other users of our road
system that don’t have a metal cage surrounding them as they travel at high
speeds.

New York Gov. David Paterson on Aug. 13 signed what locally is called
“Hayley and Diego’s Law,” which honors Hayley Ng and Diego Martinez, two
young children who were killed when an idling and unattended van slipped
into gear and rolled backward into a group of pre-school children in New
York City’s Chinatown. The law sets up an intermediate charge — a traffic
violation called careless driving — which prosecutors can use in cases
where a conviction on a charge of criminal negligence or recklessness seems
unlikely.

Paterson signed a second law on Aug. 13 that should also keep dangerous
drivers off the road. Under Elle’s Law (named after Elle Vanderberghe,
3 years old at the time, who suffered serious brain injuries when a
motorist backed up through a crosswalk on 82nd Street to grab an open
parking space), any driver who causes serious physical injury to another
person while committing a traffic violation will automatically have his or
her license suspended for a period of six months by the DMV. Drivers who
have been involved in any similar incidents within the previous five years
will have their licenses suspended for a full year.

A day earlier, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell signed SB269, the state’s first
vulnerable users law. The bill, modeled after an Oregon law, enhances the
penalty for drivers convicted of careless or inattentive drivers who cause
serious physical injury to cyclists, pedestrians and other vulnerable road
users. The new law includes sentencing guidelines, such as completion of a
traffic safety course, perform up to 100 hours of community service related
to driver improvement and providing public education on traffic safety,
fines up to $550 and suspension of driving privileges.

These two new vulnerable user laws make Delaware and New York the third and
fourth states to pass these laws that protect the most vulnerable users of
our roads. Oregon was the first state to pass such a law, which is modeled
after similar laws in the Netherlands, Denmark and other countries. Texas
passed a similar law last year only to have it vetoed by Gov. Rick Perry.
Several other states, including Washington, Virginia and California, are
debating similar bills.

The Seattle-based site Publicola on Aug. 20 made a good case about why all
states need vulnerable user laws, and an excerpt is quoted below.
Additional information about vulnerable user laws was in this previous post
on this site.

     It’s shameful that our state legislators could not pass the vulnerable
users bill last session. The bill, introduced by Seattle Sen. Joe McDermott
(D-34), would have imposed stricter penalties on negligent drivers who kill
or seriously injure vulnerable roadway users such as bicyclists and
pedestrians. Unfortunately, the bill never even made it to a vote.

     Of course, there are times when drivers are not to blame. People are
people and prone to doing stupid things regardless of whether they’re
traveling by bike, foot, or car. The goal of the law is not to place an
unfair burden on drivers. It won’t punish a driver who accidentally hits a
biker who runs a red light or a pedestrian who absentmindedly steps out
into the street. It will, however, create an appropriately stringent
punishment that matches the level of responsibility required to drive a
fast, high-powered, 2,000-pound metal vehicle around vulnerable roadway
users (pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users) who have just as much legal
right to use the road as drivers do. If a driver makes the choice to take
his or her eyes off the road to answer the phone, fiddle with the radio, or
reach for cigarettes maims or kills someone, “I didn’t see them” should not
absolve them of responsibility.

     Opponents of the vulnerable users law argue that there are already
negligent driving laws in place to punish drivers who maim and kill
bicyclists and pedestrians. But drivers go unpunished often enough to
justify more specific laws that carry the sort of weighty penalties that
might make people reconsider their driving habits.

How vulnerable are pedestrians and cyclists? The Greater Greater Washington
site recently began plotting on a map the locations of pedestrians and
cyclists who are hit by cars, and the site posts a weekly update so
residents can get a better handle on the carnage. During the week ending
Aug. 29, there were 13 pedestrians and four cyclists hit by cars in the
downtown Washington, D.C., area.

In many cases when a pedestrian or cyclist is struck by a car, the blame
tends to be directed at the vulnerable user or you get excuses from the
driver like “he came out of nowhere, I didn’t see him.” While that is true
in some cases, a Toronto physician, Dr. Chris Cavacuiti, recently published
a study that showed that in the vast majority of cases the car is at fault
in a car-bike collision and not the cyclist. Dr. Cavacuiti’s findings
showed the cyclist was at fault in less than 10 percent of these wrecks.

Even though cars are at fault in the vast majority of car-bike or
car-pedestrian crashes, many prosecutors fail to charge the driver, and in
some cases the driver doesn’t even receive a simple traffic ticket. That
can leave the victims and/or their family’s feeling violated. A good
example of this frustration can be found in this post on Florida’s SWFBUD
blog by cyclist Ed Collins, whose father LeRoy Collins was struck and
killed by a lady driving an SUV on July 29 while riding his bike in Tampa.
According to Ed Collins, the lady who killed his father will have no points
on her driving license and no jump in insurance because she was not charged.

It’s so rare to see a driver charged when they hit a pedestrian or cyclist
(unless the driver was drunk or driving very recklessly) that is was kind
of a surprise to see a grand jury in Fairbanks last week bring charges of
manslaughter against a 55-year-old driver who allegedly ran a red light and
killed a 14-year-old cyclist. If a vulnerable user law can make drivers
have to think about the consequences of their careless driving, maybe they
will become safer drivers.