The next Legislative Committee meting will be Wednesday, December 7 at 6:30pm. The location will be Teasim at 400 8th St NW. David Cranor (At-Large - Orange) is the Committee Chair and will meet at a large table in the basement of the restaurant.
The agenda for the meeting will be:
- Review of letter seeking status of compliance with the Bicycle Safety Enhancement Act.
- Parking report - Now that we have it, we need to decide if there are any legislative actions. The report does not completely meet the requirements of the law - for example it was never made public and doesn't include an evaluation of routes to facilities.
- What has long been cited as the law (and included in every iteration of the WABA / DDOT Pocket Guide) as 18 DCMR 1201.2--which states a presumption that the cyclist right to the right, but with a number of clearly defined exceptions--is not actually the law.
This was changed in a piece of legislation from 2006 for Segways, to make them exempt from certain motor vehicle requirements despite the presence of a motor. It also applies to cyclists. We need to discuss if we need a "Cyclists may take full lane, except..." law that more explicitly spells out where cyclists should ride.
The current language of 18 DCMR 1201.2 is:
1201.2 A person shall operate a bicycle, sidewalk bicycle or personal mobility device in a safe and non hazardous manner so as not to endanger himself or herself or any other person.
