D.C. Bicycle Advisory Council

Highlights of BAC accomplishments in June: The three BAC committees held meetings. At the Legislative Committee’s June 4 meeting, Councilmember Charles Allen, at right with file folder, discussed his Vision Zero omnibus bill.   The Facilities Committee surveyed Alabama Avenue SE and adjacent parts of Ward 8 during its June 11 field meeting. The Safety, Education and Enforcement Committee met on June 13. Ward 6 member David Cranor delivered BAC testimony in support of the Vulnerable User Collision Recovery Amendment Act of 2019. Cranor, left, testified on June 24 before the Council Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety. BAC members joined with their Arlington and Alexandria counterparts to host the Inaugural Regional Bike Summit on June 9. Here’s the @DCBAC delegation at the summit! pic.twitter.com/CFiY0tppAB — HandlebarsDC 🚴 (@HandlebarsDC) June 9, 2019 Two BAC members attended a June 20 public meeting about Florida Avenue NE safety redes...

Bicycle Advisory Council chair David Cranor today issued the following statement in response to the D.C. Council vote in support of contributory negligence reform. The legislation, the Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act of 2016, will be enacted pending a second affirmative Council vote, anticipated in the fall. The act would permit bicyclists and pedestrians to receive compensation from a driver's insurance as long as the non-motorized party is less than 50 percent at fault. Under current law, a bicyclist or pedestrian deemed 1 percent at fault is ineligible for any compensation. This contributory negligence policy would be replaced by a form of comparative negligence. Said BAC chair Cranor: "The Bicycle Advisory Council supports this measure. The consequences of a crash between a cyclist and driver are often unevenly distributed, with the cyclist generally bearing the greater burden. Under current law, cyclists also generally bear the greater financial burden even w...

Photo: @Ranpuba The next Legislative Committee is scheduled for 6:00pm, April 27th at Teaism in Penn Quarter (400 8th Street NW). We will meet downstairs. The Legislative Committee Chair, Mike Forster, plans to discuss the following: Contributory Negligence legislation a bike sales tax holiday; and, a potential legislative fix to require DDOT to address dangerous intersections more quickly. If time permits, we will discuss other bike-related topics. If you have questions or suggestions, please leave them in the comments section or send contact us on Twitter .

The next Legislative Committee meeting will be Wednesday, October 8th at 6:30 pm at the Teaism in Penn Quarter . Agenda items:     Update on the hearing of the “ Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Amendment Act of 2014 .” Next steps for the DCBAC regarding the streetcar regulations .  Drafting an “omnibus” letter for the new council and mayor, covering areas of DC law that could be improved. Potential topics include a safe stop act, BUI, distracted driving law reform, and the transit benefit act. If there are other suggestions for topics, please send them to be added to the agenda. Please feel free to contact the committee chair, David Cranor for meeting details or topics of discussion. We look forward to seeing you and having your input.

Monday, September 29, 2014, Councilmember Tommy Wells, Chairperson of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, will hold a hearing on the "Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Amendment Act of 2014" ( View Legislation ).  The hearing will be held at 12:30 pm, the John A. Wilson Building, Room 500, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004 This proposed legislation, co-sponsored by Council members Cheh, Grosso, and Wells, would adopt a comparative negligence standard for damages recovery in bicycle and motor vehicles collisions. Comparative negligence is a rule of law applied in accident cases to determine responsibility and damages based on the negligence of every party directly involved in a crash. Section 2 of the "Access to Justice for Bicyclists Act of 2012" would be amended to include the following: "Any individual who, while riding a bicycle, is involved in a collision with a motor vehicle, shall have the total damages re...

A few weeks ago, a certain BAC member stumbled while trying to explain the somewhat complicated legal terms called contributory and comparative negligence during a BAC oversight hearing ( which you can see here ) .  This topic has been discussed by several outlets over the past few years because according to WABA, it is essentially a " blame the victim liability standard ".  Understanding these terms may make the difference between you getting something for injuries sustained in an accident, especially if you are biking or walking around the District, Maryland or Virginia (1).   If an accident occurs, the assigning of fault or responsibility determines if the plaintiff (the person making a claim - usually the injured) or the defendant (the person or entity defending themselves against a claim) can receive compensation to repair themselves or their property.   Negligence is a legal term that assigns fault to someone a court determines as reckless or engage...