Deaths of cyclists drive lobbying effort for vulnerable users law
Pointing to a number of fatal crashes in 2010, bicyclists in Wisconsin will lobby Tuesday for a vulnerable user law and tougher penalties against offending motorists.
About 200 advocates are expected to meet with legislators as part of the third-annual Bike Summit organized by the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, the largest cycling advocacy group in the state. Their agenda for the lobbying session also contains state money for bike and pedestrian paths and access to land purchased through the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
The bikers will have several cases to cite - crashes that killed cyclists - as they argue that the current traffic laws provide inadequate penalties for motorists who commit a moving offense that seriously injures or kills a biker.
In Waukesha County, a 20-year-old driver who hit and killed Brett Netke, 42, while he pedaled on Highway 18 in the Village of Summit was cited for failing to yield three feet of clearance while passing. Samuel Weirick did not contest the citation, and paid a $114 fine.
In Brown County, authorities issued a ticket for an improper left turn to the 39-year-old who hit and killed Reinhold Herzog at a rural intersection in the Town of Wrightstown on Aug. 24.
According to an accident reconstruction, Herzog was stopped in the southbound traffic lane on Blake Rd., waiting to cross Hwy. 96, when the eastbound driver, Todd Gilson, turned his Ford F250 northbound and smashed into the 73-year-old man. Gilson cut the left-hand turn so short that he hit Herzog left of the centerline, according to an accident reconstruction.
Gilson was reportedly distraught after the crash, and told a sheriff’s deputy the sun was in his eyes and he didn’t see Herzog before he hit him.
The reconstruction specialist wrote: “Based on the evidence, I believe the primary factor that contributed to this accident was the improper left turn of Todd Gilson onto Blake Rd. The sun may have been in his eyes, but if he had made the proper turn by statute, this accident would not have occurred.”
Gilson was issued a ticket for an improper left turn, with a fine of $175, but the citation was dismissed on March 22, on a motion by Thomas Coaty, an assistant district attorney in Brown County.
On the same day, Gilson pleaded guilty to a drunken driving offense he committed four months after he killed Herzog.
His fine on the drunken driving ticket was $723.
Online court records show that in previous years Gilson paid a $176.90 fine for parking where prohibited and $273 for driving too fast for conditions. In 2000, he was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 18 months in probation for a battery in 2000.
He paid no legal penalty for killing Herzog.
Still pending in Waukesha County is the case of Jeff Littmann, 56.
A motorist struck and killed the popular bike shop owner, who was riding on Wisconsin Ave. in Nashotah. No charges or citations have been issued, and the case remains under review by the Waukesha County District Attorney.
“People who bicycle have been killed on our roadways and there has been for all intents and purposes no penalty assessed,” said Kevin Hardman, executive director of the Bike Federation. “We’re looking for reasonable ways to create higher accountability for operators on the roadway.”
In New York and Delaware, vulnerable user laws impose tougher penalties for motorists who strike and injure bicyclists, pedestrians, roadway workers and others specified in the statute. Penalties vary from state to state, but typically carry fines up to $1,000 and require violators to complete traffic safety courses.
Hardman said the members of the Bicycle Federation have been talking to legislators, seeking sponsors for a bill in the state.
In recent months, legislators have been focused intensely on the budget debate, and little progress has been made on the vulnerable user proposal.
The Bike Fed also plans to lobby on the budget: asking legislators to maintain the $2.5 million in state money dedicated to bike and pedestrian paths. The state support was included, for the first time, in the 2009-’11 biennial budget.
Gov. Scott Walker eliminates that spending in his budget proposal for 2011-’13.
A third issue on the lobbying agenda is the access to state land purchased through the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program. The program does not specify biking as a use on property acquired through the conservation program, and the sport is excluded, in some cases.
Lobbying is one element of the daylong summit in Madison.
Wisconsin Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett will speak at the opening session starting at 9 a.m. in the Madison Concourse Hotel. During workshops throughout the day, advocates will share ideas on the bicycling business in the state, building local organizations and securing money for cycling projects.
Andreas Rohl, the head of bicycle programs in Copenhagen, Denmark, will deliver the keynote address Tuesday at 6 p.m.. In Copenhagen, Rohl has helped create one of the world’s best cities for bicycling as transportation.
107 Comments for "Deaths of cyclists drive lobbying effort for vulnerable users law"
LMAO
BigJim Apr 18, 2011 4:17 AM
If there is a bike trail next to the road please use it. If there is a sidewalk, then please walk on it. If you feel the need to walk or ride when it is dark then wear a high visible LED flasher.
survive10 Apr 18, 2011 5:50 AM
Big P Apr 18, 2011 6:38 AM
In 90% of car on cyclist fatalities, the driver of the car is determined to be at fault.
Cars kill 40,000 people per year, mostly other motorists. In those cases, cars are 100% at fault.
Walktime Apr 18, 2011 7:16 AM
also drunk...
90% of motorist don't give 3', and having a car pull out or turn in front of
you is common...
When you re-new your license, bike rules should be covered...
movedtosuburbs Apr 18, 2011 7:22 AM
Can't ride on the sidewalks. Can't ride on the roads. In areas where there
are no bike paths, where should cyclists go?
Everyone needs to drive/ride defensively.
cheetahslippers Apr 18, 2011 7:27 AM
2amendment,mike Apr 18, 2011 7:27 AM
By providing a quasi-lane for cyclists, cycling should be safer. Plus this additional construction mandate would provide Walker's road-building cronies with millions of dollars in additional revenue.
ChronicWhiner Apr 18, 2011 7:30 AM
beadhead Apr 18, 2011 7:45 AM
justavoter Apr 18, 2011 7:52 AM
And besides, seeing you in those silly little spandex uniforms just makes me want to run you off the road. Beep beep!"
JERK!!!!
UnfrozenCaveman Apr 18, 2011 7:56 AM
And, frankly, a lot of us spend our Saturdays out riding so that we can prepare for fundraiser rides for the MACC Fund, the National MS Society, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, UPAF, etc. So stop with all this crap about how cyclists, as a group, are jerks.
UnfrozenCaveman Apr 18, 2011 8:14 AM
people on here that bikers are always riding illegally, etc. Yes, there are
cases, but that has nothing to do with taking an EXTRA 10 SECONDS to
properly take time to pass someone, etc. The selfish, caveman attitude is
baffling to me.
PharaohSpeaks Apr 18, 2011 8:17 AM
being's life, perhaps a child's mother or father deserves to be snuffed
out because of the clothes they are wearing? That few seconds you
were delayed on your morning commute is certainly worth murdering
someone. Really...you sat down at the computer this morning and
thought that was a viewpoint the world needed to hear?
The most dangerous thing that a cyclist will ever face is people that
think like this...That in the grand scheme of things, it's really too much
trouble to tap the brakes and wait for a safe place to pass, to yield an
extra foot or two and not swipe someone with their thousand pounds of
steel hurtling down the road, or to just be actively aware of their
surroundings. Yes, that is clearly too much to ask. This legislation is an
appropriate answer to too many useless deaths. The consequences fall
firmly in the lap of the driver who was talking on the phone, driving
while they couldn't see, or were just plain 'in a hurry'. A small effort in
the larger struggle of waking motorists up from this skewed sense of
entitlement.
doniwen Apr 18, 2011 8:28 AM