After a speeding motorist killed a bicyclist on a Route 1 shoulder (and the driver was not charged, something I think AG Patrick Lynch needs to answer for) his widow, with the help of the Warwick City Council, sought legislation to appropriately sanction such motorists.
In the current General Assembly, this has morphed into at least 3 different “safe passing” bills: H7243, S2706, and H7933, all are different variants of a “3-foot” passing rule that some other states have passed, but none deal with what happens if a motorist actually injures or kills a bicyclist (or other vulnerable road user) as a current CT bill tries to do. So far, only the first bill has had a hearing.
There are also some anti-distracted driving bills (e.g. H7031, 7103, 7117, S2154) at the Assembly. Please note the LAB has a fact sheet on their web-site detailing the serious risks of injuries from distracted drivers.
I’ve posted some comments about these bills on the RIBC legislative advocacy e-list, but I’m hoping to get additional input on what we might do next from the broader bike community so am posting this comment here.
All the bills can be read at www.rilin.state.ri.us and then clicking on “legislation” then “bill text” or reply to me at bschiller@localnet.com and I can send you stuff about this.