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Tag Archive for: AB 122
Response From CalBike’s Executive Director to the Governor’s Vetoes of Bicycle and Pedestrian Bills
In 2021, CalBike decided to sponsor two related bills that would have legalized walking midblock across an empty street (AB 1238, Ting) or biking carefully through a stop sign at an empty intersection (AB 122, Boerner Horvath). Our goal was to broaden and strengthen the movement for the dignity and safety of people who walk and bike.
Despite the governor’s vetoes (see below), we made significant progress. More than 100 organizations and 3,000 people signed on in support of both bills. Your support made a difference.
The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill received bipartisan supermajority support. The Freedom to Walk Act started a national discussion about how we police walking in this country (covered in the New York Times and on NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”).
Newsom’s veto messages cited solidarity with our cause, if not our proposals. In his veto of the Freedom to Walk Act, he said, “unequal enforcement of jaywalking laws and the use of minor offenses like it as a pretext to stop people of color … is unacceptable.” His veto of the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill cited his “full support of safe and equitable access to the state’s transportation network for bicyclists.”
Unfortunately, the governor didn’t include specific proposals to accomplish these supposed commitments to our goals in either letter. And we are troubled by his reliance on biased SWITRS data to support conclusions about bicycle and pedestrian safety.
However, CalBike is part of a strong movement and public support for giving people the joyful option to bike safely. It’s affordable, healthy, neighborly, and sustainable. We’ve gained momentum, and we’ll use that to move us forward. CalBike is advocating for significant increases in active transportation investment at the scale needed to make our streets safe for people who bike and walk. We’ll give the governor a real chance to achieve his stated goals, and we’ll build a strong coalition with increasing public support that will make it even harder for lawmakers to reject future proposals.
- Dave Snyder, Executive Director, CalBike
What Governor Newsom Got Wrong About Biking and Walking
On October 8, 2021, the governor vetoed two bills that CalBike had sponsored: The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner Horvath) and the Freedom to Walk Act (AB 1238, Ting). In both cases, he cited data collected by police and, therefore, marred by police biases. In 2021, it should be unacceptable to rely on police accounts when making decisions about public safety. On top of that, Newsom presented slices of data cherry-picked to support his vetoes.
Here’s why Governor Newsom’s statistics, and the conclusions he reached, were misleading, disingenuous, and just plain wrong.
The governor’s defective data on biking
The governor’s veto of the Bicycle Safety Stop demonstrates how inaccurate reporting of bike crashes harms bike safety efforts. The governor cited statistics from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System (SWITRS), California’s database of crash reports compiled by police departments around the state. It is the only official source of data about the cause of traffic crashes.
In his veto message, Newsom’s claim that 88% of the people killed while biking past a stop sign were at fault displays a fundamental failure to understand safe bicycling or account for the anti-bike bias that is endemic to policing. And, unfortunately, police have only the car driver’s word for what happened after they have killed someone on a bike.
For example, when Amelie le Moullac was killed in San Francisco by a truck turning right into her path, the police report faulted the bicyclist for running into the side of the truck. SFPD didn’t even bother to look for evidence to back up this anti-bike assumption. It was the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition that found camera footage of the crash, proving that Ms. le Moullac was standing legally in the bike lane when the truck turned into her.
According to SWITRS, people on bikes and walking are constantly throwing themselves in front of law-abiding drivers and suffering death and injury as a result.
SWITRS data is unreliable. Police aren’t trained in the choices people on bikes make to ensure their safety, and they then make assumptions about who is at fault in a crash based on preconceived ideas about bicyclists’ bad behavior. Unfortunately, this unverified information influences policy debates throughout California. When the media reports on a controversial bike safety improvement, reporters cite SWITRS that claims half of all bike crashes are the bicyclist’s fault. That false statistic reduces the political will to take the actions needed to truly make the streets safe for people on bikes.
Cherry-picked pedestrian data leads Newsom to the wrong conclusion
In his veto statement for the Freedom to Walk Act, the governor used CHP talking points to blur the truth about what really makes pedestrians most vulnerable: prioritizing fast-moving cars and trucks over human life. People walking don’t stand a chance when two tons of steel take ownership of public streets, and crashes are considered the collateral damage of modern life.
The biggest problem with Newsom’s cherry-picked SWITRS data is that he didn’t include ALL pedestrian crashes. He just cited fatalities, but fatal crashes represent only a small share of the accidents where cars hit pedestrians, and using this figure gives a distorted picture of street safety.
When you look at all crashes involving a car and a pedestrian, it becomes clear that it’s not those crossing outside of crosswalks that are at most danger. California’s own data show that 44% of all pedestrian crashes occur when someone is “crossing at a crosswalk in an intersection.” Almost 70% of collisions involving pedestrians are caused by the driver disregarding a traffic law.
In addition, SWITRS data is drawn from accident reports prepared by the police, who have a notoriously anti-pedestrian bias. It’s not surprising that police would find pedestrians at fault for “taking actions against traffic controls or safety laws” in 63% of fatal crashes. Police, and our society at large, don’t place enough responsibility on car drivers to share the road responsibly with other road users.
When did the penalty for walking outside of proscribed pedestrian boundaries become a death sentence?
It is inaccurate for the governor, using arguments from the CHP, to insinuate that illegal crossings are the reason for rising pedestrian fatality rates. There’s no evidence of a rise in jaywalking correlated with an increase in pedestrian fatalities. In fact, recent data from the state of Virginia shows the opposite. After the state decriminalized jaywalking earlier this year, initial data indicates that it hasn’t made pedestrians less safe.
But there is a correlation that increased distracted driving and a trend toward higher front grills, mainly on trucks and SUVs, which reduce visibility for drivers and increase the deadliness of car-pedestrian crashes that correlates with this increase.
Also, it is not surprising that the most deadly crashes happen outside of crosswalks, where drivers travel at much higher speeds.
How to get accurate accident data
The prevalence of faulty data in these reports is also an argument for reducing the police role in traffic crash reporting. The movement to refocus police energy away from such activities is growing. For instance, the City of Berkeley is considering transferring that duty to its Transportation Department to allow police officers to focus more on crimes they are better equipped to deal with, an initiative that CalBike supports.
Fact-checking SWITRS accident reports would go a long way toward changing the narrative about who causes the most harm on our street. But it will be a big job to comb through the data, investigate the facts, and prepare more truthful reports. Still, it’s a critical job. If you know someone willing to analyze the SWITRS data and provide more accurate accident data, contact Jared Sanchez at jared@calbike.org.
Governor Newsom Vetoes Bill to Improve Bike Safety
For Immediate Release: October 11, 2021
Contact:
Dave Snyder, 916-251-9433, dave@calbike.org
Jared Sanchez, 714-262-0921, jared@calbike.org
Governor Newsom Vetoes Bill to Improve Bike Safety
Sacramento – The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122 – Boerner Horvath, Friedman, Ting) had broad support from the Assembly, the Senate, and people who ride bikes. CalBike is disappointed that Governor Newsom vetoed a bill that would make it legal for people on bikes to treat stop signs as yields.
Similar laws are on the books in 10 other states and have been proven to reduce collisions and improve conditions for bike riders. CalBike created a video to explain how the bicycle safety stop works, and more than 75 organizations across the state signed a letter supporting the bill.
“Governor Newsom showed today he doesn’t understand the needs of people who use bikes for everyday transportation. This commonsense law would have reduced conflict between bike riders and car drivers,” said Dave Snyder, Executive Director of CalBike. “I’m disappointed that, while climate change ravages our state, the governor blocked a popular measure that would have helped more people choose carbon-free transportation.”
CalBike Senior Policy Advocate Jared Sanchez said, “CalBike hears complaints every year about punitive sting operations that have nothing to do with safety and are sometimes used as a pretext to stop Black and Latinx people. These police interactions too often have tragic results. The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill would have been a step towards making the streets safer for every Californian.”
Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath, the bill’s original author, said, “We know from the example of other states that when riders are allowed to yield at stop signs, they choose safer streets and will spend less time in dangerous intersections. It’s time for California to live up to its values and start encouraging — not penalizing — smart riding in our state.”
In Delaware, a recent study found that collisions involving bicycles at intersections decreased by 23% after the state made the safety stop legal. The governor’s veto prevents California from joining a long list of states that have implemented the safety stop: Idaho, Delaware, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Arkansas, Utah, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. None of those states have reported any safety problems after implementing this rule.
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CalBike Scores Wins in Sacramento for Californians Who Bike and Walk
California’s legislative session has ended with several big accomplishments for active transportation. CalBike’s signature E-Bike Affordability Program is fully funded and in development. And the two other bills we sponsored this year have passed the Assembly and the Senate, which have placed a spotlight on the need to decriminalize the bicycle safety stop and jaywalking.
In 2021, California became the first state to offer e-bike subsidies. And the legislature passed bills to decriminalize safe biking and walking.
We don’t know if Governor Newsom will sign our outstanding bills (we hope he does), but we want to take a moment to savor the forward momentum for people who bike and walk in California.
More affordable e-bikes
Bicycle advocacy in Sacramento can be frustrating. Trying to explain the joy and efficiency of getting around by bike to people who only see the world through the windshield of an automobile is sometimes a steep uphill pedal. Fortunately, this year, the California legislature showed that it understands the value of e-bikes to fight climate change.
Electric cars get most of the attention and funding as a solution for climate change, even though electric bikes are the greenest transportation options. Electric bikes are accessible and healthful transport for people who aren’t physically able to ride a standard bike, carry heavy loads or passengers, or need to ride farther and faster than a traditional bike can take them. Plus, e-bikes have been shown to replace car trips, so they provide excellent low-carbon transport.
But e-bikes are much more expensive than classic bikes, so they often aren’t accessible to the people who need them most. CalBike has been working for the past several years on programs to make e-bikes more affordable. SB 400 (Umberg), passed in 2019, added electric bikes to the Clean Cars 4 All program. However, the rollout was hampered by the pandemic. And, while the program offers generous incentives, only people with a qualifying car to surrender could participate. We knew we needed to do more to help Californians get on e-bikes.
So we rolled out an ambitious campaign to get $10 million for e-bike subsidies through the budget process and AB 117 (Boerner Horvath). The legislature and the governor have agreed to a $10 million budget for e-bike purchase incentives. The program will launch by July 1, 2022. CalBike is working with the California Air Resources Board to develop its guidelines.
Our goal is to help get e-bikes into the hands of approximately 10,000 Californians who would benefit the most from electric bikes. That includes people who need utility bikes, bikes for carrying children, folding bikes, and bikes for people with disabilities. We are working hard to support a multi-faceted program that will meet the needs of these Californians and more. Sign up to find out when e-bike grants are available.
Common sense wins: the legislature endorses the Bicycle Safety Stop
The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner Horvath) will make it legal for people on bikes to treat stop signs as yields. Riders will legally do what most of us already do: slow down when approaching a stop sign and stop, if needed, to let other traffic and pedestrians cross. If the intersection is clear, bike riders can pedal through without stopping.
Idaho, Delaware, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Arkansas, Utah, Oklahoma, and North Dakota have already made this commonsense bicycle maneuver legal. This year, the legislature signaled that it’s time for California to join the movement for sensible bike laws. That’s thanks in no small part to the many of you who emailed your representatives in support of AB 122.
We hope this will be the year California passes the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill, but we have not heard from the governor that he’ll sign it. Please contact Governor Newsom and tell him to sign AB 122.
California poised to be a leader by legalizing safe street crossings
As a recent LAist article noted, everyone jaywalks. Jaywalking is an invented offense, put on the books a century ago to clear the streets for early (and very unsafe) car drivers. The new “crime” was designed to shift the blame in a crash from a negligent driver to the person walking.
CalBike’s Freedom to Walk Act (AB 1238, Ting) would make California one of the first states to reclaim the right of pedestrians to cross the street safely, repealing century-old jaywalking laws that made such crossings technically illegal. It will still be illegal to run out into traffic, but safe mid-block crossings would no longer be crimes. Virginia and Nevada have already enacted limited jaywalking decriminalization measures this year.
CalBike co-sponsored this bill with our partners California Walks, LA Walks, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Our streets can’t truly be safe until everyone is safe. The Freedom to Walk Act recognizes that street safety requires better infrastructure plus freedom from dangerous police encounters that too often end badly for BIPOC folks.
Getting this bill through the legislature was a hard-won victory. Legislators and law enforcement groups raised safety concerns, especially since pedestrian fatalities have been rising in recent years. However, our current jaywalking laws have done nothing to protect pedestrians. Decriminalizing jaywalking will free lawmakers and police to address the true causes of traffic violence (hint: it’s the people inside the two-ton machines, not the people outside them).
Jaywalking laws let reckless drivers off the hook for killing and injuring pedestrians and give police a pretext to harass Black Californians, who are cited at a rate as much as five times higher than white people—even though everybody jaywalks.
We are grateful that lawmakers understood the importance of legalizing safe street crossings and ending outdated and unjust laws. Their action is the first step in making California streets safe for all of us.
Governor Newsom can make California a leader in stepping boldly into that future by signing the Freedom to Walk Act. California will be the first state in the nation to repeal unjust jaywalking laws, which could be the start of an overdue trend. AB 1238 has already added to a growing national discussion about the need to decriminalize jaywalking.
We hear that the governor is under pressure to veto this critical bill. If he hears from enough constituents who support it, that could help him get to yes. Tell Governor Newsom to legalize safe street crossings.
More wins and losses for people who bike, active transportation, and climate-friendly communities
California’s legislative session ended on September 10. It was a mixed year for the other transportation and climate bills CalBike supported or was following. Some excellent legislation didn’t make it, but some visionary measures passed both houses. Read our full recap.
Bicycle Safety Stop Bill Passes Senate
For Immediate Release Contact: Dave Snyder, 916-251-9433, dave@calbike.org
Tuesday, August 31, 2021 Jared Sanchez, 714-262-0921, jared@calbike.org
Bicycle Safety Stop Bill Passes Senate
SACRAMENTO – On August 30, the California Senate passed the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner Horvath, Friedman, Ting) with a bipartisan 31-5 vote. The bill allows people on bikes to treat stop signs as yields, including giving the right of way to pedestrians. More than 75 organizations across the state signed a letter in support of the bill.
CalBike is thrilled that the Senate has shown its support for commonsense biking. A recent study in Delaware found that collisions involving bicycles at intersections decreased by 23% after the state made the safety stop legal. If the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill becomes law, California will join a long list of states that have implemented the safety stop: Idaho, Delaware, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Arkansas, Utah, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. None of those states have reported any safety problems after implementing this rule.
Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath, the bill’s original author said, “We know from the example of other states that when riders are allowed to yield at stop signs, they choose safer streets and will spend less time in dangerous intersections. It’s time for California to live up to its values and start encouraging — not penalizing — smart riding in our state.”
“Bicycling is good for California in so many ways: it improves our health, our economy, and our environment. We’re grateful to the thousands of Californians who encouraged their State Senators to remove this nonsensical obstacle to safe and reasonable biking,” said Dave Snyder, Executive Director of CalBike.
The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill doesn’t change existing right-of-way laws. People on bikes will still have to take their turn at intersections. AB 122 makes it legal for bike riders to slow down at intersections, wait for other traffic to clear, then proceed without coming to a full stop. It will improve predictability at intersections and mutual respect among road users. CalBike has created a video to explain how the bicycle safety stop works.
Unnecessary laws that are disregarded can become a pretext for unfair enforcement. CalBike hears complaints every year about punitive sting operations that have nothing to do with safety, and are sometimes used as a pretext to stop Black and Latinx people. These police interactions too often have tragic results.
CA Senate Transportation Considers Bicycle Safety Stop
For Immediate Release: 6/25/21
Contact:
Dave Snyder, 916-251-9433, dave@calbike.org
Jared Sanchez, 714-262-0921, jared@calbike.org
CA Senate Transportation Considers Bicycle Safety Stop on Tuesday, June 29
SACRAMENTO – The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner Horvath, Friedman, Ting) will be heard in the California Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.
The bill will replace the requirement that people on bikes stop at stop signs with a requirement to yield and slow and stop if necessary for safety, including to yield the right of way to pedestrians. More than 75 organizations across the state signed a letter in support of the bill. The California Bicycle Coalition created a video that explains how bicycle safety stops work in the real world. The bicycle stop-as-yield is proven to increase safety for people on bikes.
“The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill doesn’t change existing right-of-way laws. Instead, AB 122 reforms the rules of the road to accommodate the safe and logical bike riding that people are already doing. It also removes a pretext for police to harass Black Californians,” said Dave Snyder, Executive Director of CalBike.
“To cut down on car emissions, promote healthy living, and improve equity, we need neighborhoods that encourage safe bicycle riding,” said Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath, the bill’s original author. “We know from the example of other states that when riders are allowed to yield at stop signs, they choose safer streets and will spend less time in dangerous intersections. It’s time for California to live up to its values and start encouraging — not penalizing — smart riding in our state.”
In April, the California Assembly voted 53 to 11 in favor of the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill.
If AB 122 becomes law, California will join the list of states that have implemented the safety stop: Idaho, Delaware, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Delaware, Arkansas, Utah, and North Dakota. None of those states has reported any safety problems with the new rule. A recent study in Delaware found that collisions involving bicycles at intersections decreased by 23% since the safety stop became legal.
Unnecessary laws that are difficult to follow pose a risk of traffic stops with tragic endings for people riding bikes, especially Black people.
Bicycle Safety Stop Has Support of California Cities
The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner Horvath) passed the Assembly with solid support in April, but opposition is building in the Senate. So elected city councilors across California are voicing their support for the bill. They recognize the importance of having state laws that conform to the ways their residents safely bicycle through intersections with stop signs: yielding as appropriate, stopping when necessary, but otherwise safely rolling through.
“The state should be doing everything in its power to encourage more people to bike in order to reduce driving and climate change impacts from transportation, improve public health, and improve air quality,” said Katie Valenzuela of the Sacramento City Council. “AB 122 aligns with the sustainability goals of the City of Sacramento by removing obstacles to safe and reasonable biking. We should be encouraging — not penalizing — smart riding in our state.”
Bob Blumenfield of the Los Angeles City Council says that AB 122 is “common-sense legislation that will align State law with the way that people safely ride their bikes today and, at no cost, make our local neighborhood streets more conducive to bicycling.” He is careful to add that it’s also important that Los Angeles is “working to build out a network of bike paths, bike lanes, and other physical infrastructure.”
Rigel Robinson of the Berkeley City Council notes that his city’s deprioritizing enforcement against bicycles who yield but don’t stop at stop signs is not enough. “State action is needed to fully exempt bicyclists from this law and focus instead on motorist behaviors that pose a true threat to safety,” he said.
These officials represent just a few of the cities whose city councils have quickly managed formal votes in support of AB 122. Numerous California cities have taken positions in favor of the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill, including:
- Berkeley
- Corona
- Cupertino
- Emeryville
- Encinitas
- Folsom
- Los Angeles
- Sacramento
- San Luis Obispo
- Santa Barbara
- West Hollywood
- West Sacramento
- Woodland
League of California Cities Transportation Committee Supports AB 122
Another indication that city leaders understand the importance of the bicycle safety stop is the June 4 vote to support AB 122 by a committee of the League of California Cities, a statewide policy and advocacy organization that opposed a similar bill in 2017.
Its Transportation, Communications, and Public Works Policy Committee includes John Bauters, Emeryville Council Member and a lifelong cyclist. He came prepared to explain the benefits of the Bicycle Safety Stop to his fellow committee members. He explained how stopping at stop signs can endanger bike riders because stopping and restarting increase the chance of a rider stumbling and falling and because impatient car drivers are more likely to cut bikers off. He explained how the average person on a bike travels through an intersection at 5 to 7 mph and can quickly stop if necessary and explained that car drivers are more likely to see a moving bike rider because movement makes objects easier to spot.
As one of the only regular bike riders on the committee, he understood that the bicycle safety stop isn’t intuitive for non-riders. He answered questions from his fellow committee members and gave a shout-out to them on Twitter for being willing to ask questions and understand the issue.
The Committee voted 22-7 in favor of AB 122. The League’s executive committee still must weigh in before the organization takes an official position.
“I’m hopeful that the League Executive Board will support the recommendation because it’s a smart measure for cities,” Bauters said. So are we.
“After COVID, cities have seen that more and more people are relying on active transportation to perform and complete daily trips and tasks,” Bauters said. “AB 122 is a sensible measure that will make the roads safer to Californians who bicycle.”
What you can do to support the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill
If you want to see California join Oregon and Washington states (among others) in making the safety stop law, there are several ways to get involved.
- Lobby your town or city to take a position in favor of AB 122 (and let CalBike know if you succeed).
- Email your senator and ask them to support the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill. It just takes a minute to send an email with our action tool.
- Post your support on social media using the hashtag #BicycleSafetyStop. Feel free to add the graphic below to your post.
We are optimistic that we can pass the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill this year – but we’ll need your support to make it happen.
Roundup of CalBike 2021 Legislation
After COVID sidetracked much of California’s legislative agenda (and all of CalBike’s bills) in 2020, this year is off to a busy start. CalBike 2021 legislation includes three bills we are sponsoring that will be crucial in creating a more equitable, bicycling-friendly California. Your team in Sacramento is actively working on four additional bills and keeping an eye on another 16 pieces of legislation.
CalBike’s sponsored bills
In 2020, we laid out a plan for reducing the role of police in traffic enforcement. Every pretext for a police stop is an opportunity for police to target, harass, and attack Black and brown Californians.
It will take more than a change in traffic laws to change a culture of brutality toward BIPOC people from law enforcement. However, we think that two bills we’re sponsoring that legalize commonsense behaviors help reduce opportunities for pretextual policing.
Ending unjust “jaywalking” laws
The Freedom to Walk Act, AB-1238
Authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting, this bill will repeal jaywalking laws. It makes legal the common practice of safely crossing a street mid-block or crossing against the light if there’s no traffic present.
Decriminalizing walking across the street is a step toward correcting years of neglected infrastructure. Many residents of underserved neighborhoods have no choice but to “jaywalk” on streets without adequate sidewalks, crosswalks, or traffic controls. In addition, jaywalking is inequitably enforced, with Black Californians more than four times as likely to be stopped as their white counterparts.
The Freedom to Walk Act will take off the books a “crime” that harms no one and often reflects commonsense choices by pedestrians in a car-centric world.
The Freedom to Walk Act was approved by the Assembly Transportation Committee on April 26 and will soon come before the full Assembly for a vote. Show your support for this critical bill: sign the petition to decriminalize jaywalking.
Bringing the “Idaho stop” to California
Bicycle Safety Stop Bill, AB 122
In 1982, Idaho made it legal for people on bikes to treat stop signs as yields. Many states have since followed suit, including Oregon, Washington, and Delaware. A study from Delaware found that, after the bike-stop-as-yield became law, crashes involving bikes and cars at intersections decreased by 23%. This bill will bring California in line with our West Coast neighbors and improve bike safety.
If AB 122 becomes law, it will be legal for people on bikes to do what most of us already do: slow down at a stop sign, proceed if the way is clear, or stop and yield to pedestrians or other traffic. Legalizing the bicycle safety stop also counters racial disparities by removing one more pretext for potentially lethal police traffic stops.
The Assembly approved the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill on April 22, by a vote of 53-11. We’ll need your help to get it through the California Senate. In the meantime, sign the petition to show your support for the Bicycle Safety Stop Law.
CalBike’s E-Bike Affordability Program
Our third sponsored bill is part of a campaign that CalBike has been working on for several years. We know that e-bikes are very effective at replacing car trips, and we know we need to drastically reduce driving to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. In 2019, we passed SB 400, which added e-bikes to the Clean Cars 4 All program. This year, we’re looking for greatly expanded funding to make e-bikes affordable to more Californians.
E-Bike Affordability Bill, AB 117
The E-Bike Affordability Bill creates a program to give purchase incentives for e-bikes, much like the electric car program run by the state. However, the bill doesn’t set the amount of funding. In addition to passing AB 117, we will advocate for initial funding of $10 million for e-bikes in the budget process.
The E-Bike Affordability Bill unanimously passed the Assembly Transportation Committee and will soon be ready for a floor vote. We need lots of support to make this vital program a reality. Sign the petition to demand that California subsidize e-bikes as it does electric cars.
Other priority legislation
CalBike is supporting or opposing several additional bills. We are working to ensure that the needs of people who rely on active transportation are heard in Sacramento.
Improving transportation planning
AB 1147: Transportation Plan Improvements (Friedman)
AB 1147 will require regional transportation agencies to ensure that their transportation plans meet California’s goals to reduce the miles people travel in their cars. It calls for a grant program to build the safe biking infrastructure to achieve a “15-minute city.” That’s a place where every typical destination can be reached by most people with a 15-minute bike ride. CalBike is working with the author to ensure that the grant program incentivizes city leaders to build truly effective networks, even when they impact car traffic or parking.
Opposing a threat to bike and scooter sharing
AB-371: Death to Shared Mobility Bill (Jones-Sawyer)
AB 371 rehashes an onerous insurance requirement that CalBike managed to kill in the legislature last year. It would require scooter and bike-share systems to carry insurance not just to cover their legitimate liability for product defects and malfunctions (which they already do) but to cover any injury to someone using their systems, no matter what the cause. The cost of this would drive micromobility systems out of California. Plus, there’s no carve-out for municipal systems, like the one operated by LA’s Metro or nonprofit bike libraries. We support a provision in the bill to make devices accessible to vision-impaired people for reporting purposes, but the rest of this measure is toxic. CalBike is working hard to defeat it.
AB-550: Speed Safety Systems Pilot Program (Chiu)
This measure will allow six California cities to establish pilot programs to enforce speed limits with cameras. The cities on the list are Oakland, San Jose, and San Francisco in northern California; Los Angeles and two other cities to be determined in Southern California. The bill imposes strict limits on programs to protect privacy and limit fines (including add-on fees) to $125. Automated enforcement of speed limits has proven to reduce crashes dramatically. Because of the limitations included in this bill, CalBike may make an exception to our typical refusal to support enforcement as a traffic safety strategy.
Lowering speed limits for safety
AB 43: Makes It Easier to Lower Speed Limits (Friedman, Ting, Chiu, and Quirk)
AB 43 reforms the infamous 85th percentile rule. This rule requires agencies to set speed limits at the nearest 5-mph increment to the speed of the 15th fastest driver out of 100. In effect, this rewards drivers for speeding. The bill will broaden exceptions to the rule and allow for speed limits as low as 20 mph and 15 mph. Lower speeds are crucial for neighborhood Slow Streets.
CalBike 2021 legislation watch list
The bills we are watching include measures to do away with parking minimums in buildings near transit, setbacks to keep oil drilling away from homes and schools, school zone speed cameras, and more. Our Legislative Watch page has the full rundown, including the latest status of all this year’s bills.
CalBike couldn’t do the work we do in Sacramento to stand up for active transportation and people who ride bikes without the support of our many members. Please consider joining or renewing your membership today.
Safety Stop Wins Support of Transportation Committee
On March 22, 2021, the Assembly Transportation Committee approved the Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner-Horvath). The CalBike-sponsored legislation will make it legal for bikes to treat stop signs as yields. If the Safety Stop Bill wins the support of the entire legislature, bicyclists can proceed without stopping if there is no other traffic in the intersection and it’s safe to proceed.
At the hearing, Assemblymembers Laura Friedman and Buffy Wicks signed on as co-sponsors. CalBike Executive Director Dave Snyder was among those who spoke in support. The bill passed out of committee by a vote of 10-4.
The Safety Stop is safer: a similar law in Delaware led to a 23% reduction in bicycle crashes at intersections.
Safety stop wins wide support, narrow opposition
The list of supporters of the Safety Stop Bill is a who’s who of bicycle advocacy and active transit organizations from across California. The bill got statewide support from groups like the Safe Routes Partnership, PolicyLink, Transform, and California Walks, among others. National bicycle champions People for Bikes also signed on in support, as did the Berkeley City Council.
The only group that signed on to oppose the Safety Stop Bill is the California Association of Highway Patrolmen. Apparently, the CHP wants to protect its right to cite less than 200 bicyclists a year for this safe and commonsense behavior. Two AAA clubs opposed the bill unless the committee made specific revisions. The committee did not make AAA’s suggested revisions, though it did make modifications to the bill’s language. The committee also added a sunset date of 2028. The safety stop will no longer be legal at that time unless the legislature takes action to make it permanent.
What’s next for the Safety Stop Bill
The next stop for the Safety Stop Bill is the full Assembly. Your calls and emails to your assembly members will help ensure that the safety stop wins the votes it needs to move on to the Senate. We’ll let you know when it’s time to step up for the Safety Stop Bill.