An Op-Ed in the Hartford Courant mentions Bike Walk Connecticut as an inspired and inspiring organization.  Walking Does Wonders At Work, Beyond; The Hartford Courant, (Mar 12 2014).

Hartford Business Journal's spring edition of the Green Guide covers Laura Baum's election as president of Bike Walk Connecticut.
(March 17, 2014)

After years of getting tantalizingly close, advocates for pedestrians and cyclists are campaigning again to pass a "vulnerable user" law in Connecticut.

The goal is to make careless motorcyclists, car drivers and truckers behave more responsibly on the highways.

Read the full article in the Hartford Courant here.

“Study after study reveals that more people would be willing to make more trips by bike or on foot if they felt they could do so without taking their lives in their hands.”  That comment at a legislative hearing by Kelly Kennedy, Executive Director of Bike Walk Connecticut, highlights the reason behind proposed legislation that would “help hold accountable careless drives who injure or kill non-motorized users of the road.”

Read the full article on the Connecticut By the Numbers site here. 

Hartford, Conn. (March 5, 2014) - For the fifth consecutive year, the Connecticut General Assembly is considering a bill to help hold accountable careless drivers who injure or kill pedestrians, cyclists and other non-motorized “vulnerable users” of the state’s roads. 

Bike Walk Connecticut, the advocacy organization working to make Connecticut a better place to bike and walk, supported the bill again this year in testimony before the legislature’s Transportation Committee on March 5.

The bill, SB 336, would allow reckless drivers to be fined up to $1000 when they cause the death of or injury to a pedestrian, cyclist or other “vulnerable user” who uses reasonable care on the road. 

From 2006 to 2012, a total of 10,793 pedestrians and cyclists have been killed or injured while using Connecticut roads, according to federal and state crash data registries. 

A majority of vulnerable user accidents occur along “arterial” roadways—streets that are designed for speeding traffic with little or no provision for people on foot, on bicycles or in wheelchairs.  Excessive speed, distracted driving, and occasional outright driver hostility too often play a role in these tragedies. 

Study after study reveals that more people would make more trips by bike or on foot and drive less if they felt safer in traffic.  Passing the Vulnerable User bill, and then enforcing it, will raise awareness across the board about the need to be alert for the various users of our public roads. 

Vulnerable User legislation is good public policy.  Making Connecticut a better place to bike and walk will reduce traffic congestion; create more vibrant town centers; save money; and give us cleaner air and a healthier population.  

In the last two years, the Vulnerable User bill has had broad legislative support and passed the Senate unanimously, but it was not brought to a vote in the House in either year.   Bike Walk Connecticut and its members urge readers to ask their legislators to pass the Vulnerable User bill, SB 336, early this legislative session and get the bill across the finish line this year. 

Sources:   http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/; http://www.ctcrash.uconn.edu/;http://www.tstc.org/reports/danger12/; http://t4america.org/tag/dangerous-by-design 

# # #Bike Walk Connecticut (bikewalkct.org) is a member supported, not-for-profit organization that works to make Connecticut a better place to bike and walk.

The Waterbury Observer reports on Bike Walk Connecticut's Effort to Make CT a Better Place to Bike/Walk and our support for the vulnerable user bill. (March 8, 2014)