Partisan Politics and Cycling: Bill Favoring Cyclists Killed on Party-Line Vote

As reported in the last issue of Arizona Road Cycling News, the Arizona Legislature's House Bill 2479, which would have permitted cyclists to treat stops signs as if they were yield signs, was voted down by the House's Military and Public Affairs (MAPS) Committee. What I didn't notice at the time was that voting was along straight party lines. Every Democrat on the committee voted to approve the bill, and every Republican voted to kill it.

Voting against the measure were Ray Barnes (rbarnes@azleg.gov), Sam Crump (scrump@azleg.gov), Carl Seel (cseel@azleg.gov), David Gowan (dgowan@azleg.gov), and Jerry Weiers (jpweiers@azleg.gov), all Republicans. Voting in favor were the committee's three Democrats: Patricia Fleming (pfleming@azleg.gov), Barbara McGuire (bmcguire@azleg.gov), and Daniel Patterson (dpatterson@azleg.gov).

Perhaps the political party that has taken a stand against this cycling bill doesn't think that its constituents ride bikes. In case some of our readers would like to correct this impression, I've included the E-mail addresses of all of the committee members who voted on this bill. You may also to forward this article to your cycling friends who may also wish to E-mail, call or write the people's representatives in the Arizona Legislature. There is nothing that motivates politicians as much as knowing that voters are watching them and care about the decisions they make.
This article is also posted online at www.azroadcyclist.com.

Legislative Committee Votes Down Cyclist Bill

This morning, March 4, 2009, the Committee on Military Affairs and Public Safety held a hearing on House Bill 2470, the bill that would give bicyclists the right to treat yield signs as if they were stop signs. As reported in today's issue of Arizona Road Cyclist News (www.azroadcyclist.com), the bill failed to pass the committee by a vote of three in favor and five against. Voting for this bill were Representatives Barbara McGuire, Daniel Patterson, and Patricia Fleming. Voting against were Ray Barnes, David Gowan, Sam Crump, Jerry Weers, and Car Steel. You can access the bill's Web site by clicking here.

Group riding skills

An article inside the back cover of the most recent issue of VeloNews got me to thinking. The article was about group rides, and there was a brief list of the skills that one should have to ride in a group such as our Wheezers and Geezers. To modify the list slightly and put it in my own words, I think that riders should have the skills to 1) ride in a straight line in a paceline with one hand on the bars so that the rider is able to point out obsticales or take a swig from the water bottle, 2) be able to ride a rotating pace line or else have enough sense to stay at the back of the pack out of the way when riders are rotating pulls at the front, 3) be able to follow the wheel in front of them in a steady manner, i.e. without swerving and at a relatively constant distance without the alternating pedaling and coasting that make the pace so jerky for those behind. -- Jack Quinn

Bicycling Through Stop Signs to Become Legal in Arizona

In a past issue of Arizona Road Cyclist News, I mentioned that the State of Idaho allows cyclists to essentially treat red traffic lights as stop signs and and stop signs as red lights. Now Arizona may take a step in that direction. The Idaho approach makes sense, because cyclists are often unable to trip traffic lights that only change in response to sensors embedded in the road, and cyclists are often able to clear stop signs more rapidly and more safely, especially four-way stop signs, if they do not come to a complete stop and maintain some momentum. Of course, Arizona law already recognizes the right of a vehicle or a bicycle to cautiously proceed through a red light if the driver or cyclist is absolutely sure that the vehicle or bicycle cannot trigger the light.

Now, Ed Beighe of the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists has drawn my attention to the fact that a bill has been introduced in the Arizona Legislature that would give Arizona bicyclists the right to treat stop signs as yield signs. In other words, cyclists approaching a stop sign would be required to slow down, look both ways, and then ride through the intersection without making a complete stop, if there were no cross traffic approaching

The proposal has been introduced as House Bill 2475 and has nine sponsors and co-sponsors. It would modify Arizona Revised Statute Section 28-855 Subsection C to read as follows. If the bill passes, the blue text will be added to the statute, and the red text will be deleted.

C. The driver of a vehicle approaching a yield sign and any person riding a bicycle approaching a yield sign or a stop sign shall slow down in obedience to the sign to a speed reasonable for the existing conditions and shall yield the right‑of‑way to any vehicle in the intersection or approaching on another highway so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard during the time the driver or bicycle rider is moving across or within the intersection. If after driving or riding past a yield sign or stop sign without stopping the driver or bicycle rider is involved in a collision with a vehicle in the intersection, the collision is prima facie evidence of the driver's or bicycle rider's failure to yield the right‑of‑way.

You can read the bill, follow its progress, and see who its sponsors are by clicking here. Once on the Website, click on "Show Versions" and then under current versions click on either HTML or PDF to read the complete bill.

Sports Bar Recall

A large proportion of the sports bars sold by Cliff under the names Cliff Bar, Mojo, and Luna are being recalled, because they contain peanut butter and could be infected with salmonella. Most of the bars contain the word "nut", "nuts", or "peanut" in the name of the flavor. A complete list of the bars being recalled can be found on the Cliff Bar Website:

http://www.clifbar.com/voluntary-recall/

If you have any of these bars, please don't eat them. You may experience unpleasant digestive problems. Although Cliff says the bars are being recalled through an "excess of caution", the fact that they are being recalled indicates that the company may have purchased peanut butter and/or peanut paste from Peanut Corporation of American (PCA), the firm whose products sold to the wholesale market were found to be contaminated. Peanut butter purchased in stores is reported to be safe, but products that use peanut butter and/or peanut paste in their ingredients may be contaminated. Power Bar says that it does not purchase ingredients from PCA and that its products are safe.

Because many cyclists eat Cliff Bars, I am sending this message to subscribers of both Arizona Road Cyclist News and the Geezers' mail list. I apologize that those of you who subscribe to both lists will receive a duplicate.

Ahwatukee Foothills Cyclist Killed in Tragic Accident

The Arizona Republic reports that 50-year-old Gerald Hickman of Ahwatukee Foothills died this past Saturday morning when he rode his bicycle into a utility truck that was parked on the side of the road. Mr. Hickman was riding with two friends, who safely rode around the parked vehicle on Fifth Avenue north of Chandler Boulevard. Mr. Hickman apparently did not see that truck and rode into it. Mr. Hickman was a well-known Phoenix attorney and an avid cyclist.

Update on Tour de Tucson Crash

The Pima County Attorney's Office has indicted 91-year-old William Arthur Wilson in the hit-and-run accident that has left Gary Stuebe in a Phoenix hospital with a serious brain injury. An extensive article on this subject will be sent out with this Wednesday's edition of Arizona Road Cyclist News. If you are not a subscriber, visit www.azroadcyclist.com for your free subscription.