VA House: Bike Safety Bills January 2024

 I enthusiastically support these changes which will improve the safety for people people biking and make our entire transportation system safer. I often ride to get around Northern Virginia and my children, who are too young to drive, also use bikes to get around.

- Safety Stop - People that riding heavier, kid-carrying bikes and children riding bikes often take extra time to start from a full stop. Allowing the safety stop allows these people to get through an intersection - and out of danger - more quickly. It also keeps the flow on the street moving. Finally, it just makes sense that people on bikes - who have a better sense of their surroundings because they are not inside a car and who are far less likely to kill someone in a crash - have less of a need to come to a complete stop at every stop sign.

- Riding Two Abreast (aka side-by-side) - When riding with kids, I want the kids beside me to my right so that anyone approaching from behind can see us, so that the kid does not swerve into the path of other traffic, and so that we arrive at intersections together. 

- Bike Proceed on Walk Signal - Today, we can bike with the walk signal, which is safer, when we're on the sidewalk. This change would allow us to stay on the street, leaving the sidewalk to people walking.

While these provisions most directly affect people biking, they will make our streets safer for everyone.  Overall, making biking safer will encourage some people to bike instead of driving for some trips - and fewer cars on our streets makes the streets safer for everyone. Also, when riding on streets is more attractive, more people riding bikes on the street and not the sidewalk.  

We need you to pass these bills to make our streets safer, especially for our children. Please adopt the Safety Stop, Riding Two Abreast, and Bikes Proceed on Walk Signal.

Thank you for your time and your service.