Clean Air Council joined the Bicycle Coalition and other Vision Zero Alliance advocates for a day of action on Tuesday, April 30th in Harrisburg. Advocates spoke to State Representatives and Senators about critical legislation needed to make streets safer for all road users.
If passed, this legislation would allow comprehensive integrated protected bike lane networks throughout Pennsylvania, create safe cycling and pedestrian spaces, and reduce dependence on automobiles. Protected bike lanes make bicycling safer, and are one of the best ways to protect pedestrians.
Pennsylvania State Senate Bill 565 (SB 565) and its companion House Bill 792 (HB 792) would allow pedestrian plazas and bike lanes on state roads to be separated and protected by parked cars. The bill was sponsored and introduced yesterday by 1st District State Senator Larry Farnese of Philadelphia.
On state roads, pedestrians are 6.5 times more likely to die in crashes than non-pedestrians. While similar numbers of pedestrians involved crashes occur on local roads, 75% of pedestrian crashes that result in a fatal injury are on state roads. Protected bike lanes reduce traffic speeds by narrowing the road, calm intersections by reducing the turning radius, and create a shorter crossing distance for pedestrians.
House Bill 37, another important bill the Council advocates for, would ban hand-held cell phones while driving. The Fredricks family, whose daughter Emily was killed on her bicycle by a distracted driver while biking in the bike lane near 11th and Spruce Streets in Center City, spoke to legislators about their daughter and asked Senators and Representatives to pass legislation to prevent other families from experiencing similar tragedies. Distracted driving caused by cell phone use is a major cause of bicycling and pedestrian fatalities in Pennsylvania, and quadruples the risk of a crash. The Council asked legislators to join neighboring states New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland in banning hand-held phones while driving.
The Council also asked legislators to bring two bills to the floor that would have a major impact on road user safety. The first, a radar bill, (HB-1275) would allow municipal police to use radar technology. Pennsylvania is currently the only state in the country that does not allow municipal police from using radar to detect vehicle speeds. Speed is the largest predictor of how serious a crash can be. The difference of just 5 or 10 miles an hour can mean life or death.
Pennsylvania can more effectively slow drivers down by putting radar technology in hands of law enforcement across the Commonwealth. The second bill, yet to be introduced, would protect vulnerable road users including pedestrians, motorcyclists, horse and carriages, farm equipment, and others by requiring a minimum of four feet to pass. Many parts of the state do not have sidewalks, especially on the particularly dangerous state roads, and vulnerable road users must be afforded the protection of a minimum passing distance.
Creating safer roads for everyone is a common theme throughout all the bills presented to legislators on this day of action. Everyone has the right to travel safely, and a bipartisan focus on reducing traffic deaths, will create safer roadways for all users.
On Friday, Governor Wolf and the Department of Environmental Protection issued a ban on the issuance of water and earth-moving permits and approvals for Energy Transfer pipelines in Pennsylvania.
In response, Joseph Otis Minott, Esq. Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council, issued the following statement:
“The ban on new permits to Energy Transfer is the kind of leadership on pipelines that the public has been waiting for from Governor Wolf. This was a crucial step to protect the public from a company with a track record of environmental destruction, public safety disasters, and deception. The next logical step is to stop the operation of ET’s Mariner East pipelines for good.”
Click here to read the full press statement from Governor Wolf
