Action Alert: Call TODAY For Vulnerable Road Users Bill

We filed the Vulnerable Road Users bill in January 2011 as the next step in our ongoing legislative efforts to protect bicyclists and other vulnerable users of our roadways. The bill would increase fines for motorists who kill or injure vulnerable users, and would require road safety education and community service teaching others about interacting safely with vulnerable users.

We have been working diligently behind the scenes on Beacon Hill since the bill had its first hearing last June in the Joint Committee on Transportation. The bill remains stuck in the Transportation Committee.

In early March, we submitted a streamlined redraft of the bill, clarifying its purpose and making it easier to understand. Later in March, with the deadline to report bills out of committee looming, we lobbied for and got a 30-day extension for the bill. That extension expires May 1st.

Yesterday, we delivered a letter to the Transportation Committee asking them to report favorably on the bill before the May 1 deadline. Joining us in support of the bill are WalkBoston,Massachusetts Public Health Association, Conservation Law Foundation, Boston Cyclists Union, and Transportation for Massachusetts.

TODAY, we need you to call or email your State Representative and your State Senator:

1. Call or email your State Senator and ask him or her to ask Senator McGee, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation to report favorably on H3079 before May 1st.
   Click here to find out who your Senator is and how to contact him or her.  
2. Call or email your State Representative and ask him or her to ask Representative Straus, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation to report favorably on H3079 before May 1st.
   Click here to find out who your Representative is and how to contact him or her.  
3. Email [email protected] to let us know who you contacted.

If your senator or representative is actually a member of the Joint Committee on Transportation, it is especially important to contact them today!

Joint Committee on Transportation:

Senate Members:
Thomas McGee (Senate Chair)
Gale Candaras
Robert Hedlund
Brian Joyce
Marc Pacheco
Michael Rush

House Members:
William Straus (House Chair)
Mark Cusack
Marcos Devers
Peter Durant
Michael Finn
Steven Howitt
Timothy Madden
John Mahoney
James Miceli
Denise Provost
Carl Sciortino
Chris Walsh

Thanks so much for your help – as always, we couldn’t do this without you.