Governor Chris Gregoire signed the Vulnerable User Bill into law today, reports Cascade Bicycle Club. SB 5326, which passed both chambers of congress with relatively strong margins, would require people who seriously injure or kill a more vulnerable road user to do more than simply mail-in a traffic ticket as is often the case today.
The bill would establish a $5,000 fine (can be reduced to $1,000), and the driver could lose driving privileges for 90 days and be required to complete community service. Instead of focusing on being overly punitive, the bill focuses on making sure the driver takes accountability for a moment of negligence that drastically changed not just one person’s life, but also the lives of the victim’s friends and family.
Comments
7 responses to “Governor signs Vulnerable User Law”
What’s the point of linking to a tweet? It doesn’t give any more in-depth info what’s already here, so why would anyone want to click through to it?
A tweet like that from the club that fought hard to make the law possible sort of marks the moment. Sorry if my tweet-linking has offended you.
It doesn’t offend me really, it’s just one of those annoying trends (like video) that diminish blogs’ advantage over other news/information sources.
Anyway, I’ll stop being a curmudgeon for a sec and comment on-topic: it’s nice that the law on the books in this state is better! Now we just need to work on a culture of responsibility, on and off the roads!
[…] May Seattle Bike Blog reports that Gov. Gregoire has signed into law the Vulnerable User Bill. It basically ensures that drivers […]
I think there’s a stronger word than curmudgeon for what you’re being, Al Dimond. You’re just shitting all over something for no apparent reason. There’s no one right way to use the internet.
[…] Vulnerable User Bill, which was passed by the legislature and signed into law early this year, was crafted to account […]
[…] Vulnerable User Law, which state bicycle advocates fought for years to pass, was written to address all-too-common situations like these where a negligent-but-not-criminal […]