In the News: Safer Roads Expected for CT Pedestrians & Cyclists

 - Story by Mike Clifford, Public News Service - CT. Read more or listen online 

May 5, 2014 HARTFORD, Conn. – It took five years of trying, but a bill is now finally headed for the governor's signature that proponents say will protect pedestrians, cyclists and others who share the roads with motor vehicles.

Kelly Kennedy, executive director of Bike Walk Connecticut, says the measure cleared its final legislative hurdle in the House last week and should provide a big dose of accident prevention for hundreds of thousands of pedestrians, cyclists and wheelchair users all across state.

"It's a deterrent and it raises awareness, of drivers, that the roads aren't just for cars,” she says, “that people may bike and they may walk along the roadways as well."

The next step is for Gov. Dannel Malloy to sign the measure (SB 336) into law. 

Nearly 11 thousand cyclists and pedestrians have been injured or killed on Connecticut roadways since 2006 but advocates say a new measure headed to Governor Dannel Malloy will provide a deterrent and raise awareness for local drivers to safely share the road. Photo credit: www.pedbikeimages.org/Laura Sandt - See more at: http://www.publicnewsservice.org

It would take effect Oct. 1 and calls for a mandatory fine of up to $1,000 dollars for motor vehicle drivers who fail to operate with due care and cause injury or death.

Kennedy says you just need to look at recent federal and state accident data to see why the measure is needed.

"There's been almost 11,000 people who have been hit or killed,” she points out. “And these are just cyclists or pedestrians, hit or killed from 2006 to 2012 – that's a lot of people."

Kennedy stresses the new protections are not limited to pedestrians and people on bikes.

"Well it's aiming to protect people who are rightfully and legitimately using the roads, but are not encased in a car,” she explains. “So, people who are walking, people who are biking, people who might be out in the rural areas horseback riding or using a service animal – it could even include skateboarders as long as they are using the roads responsibly."

Kennedy says Route 1 in Fairfield County along the Post Road is one of the hotspots in the state for these types of accidents.