A bill in the Vermont House would make important legal changes to support and protect people walking, biking, and rolling.
We need you to ask legislators to make these changes into law!
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First, sign our petition, which we'll send to the House Transportation Committee:
Then, contact your representatives and let them know you support this legislation:
You can also share these on your Front Porch Forum.
Your support makes it possible for our staff to spend time on legislative action, so please donate to help us make progress on these and other state-level walk/bike/roll issues. Make sure you're also signed up for emails so that you receive advocacy alerts!
Here's what H.685 does:
Makes safe passing of vulnerable users a requirement. Current statute recommends that drivers increase clearance to 4 feet when passing vulnerable users. Language in the statute should be strengthened to make this a requirement.
Makes bicycling safer by allowing stop-as-yield. Many states have enacted laws that allow people on bikes to treat stop signs as yield signs. People biking are required to slow and prepare to stop at stop signs. If there is traffic present, people biking must stop as normal. If there is no other traffic present, people biking may slowly roll through the stop. Here’s a fact sheet emphasizing the effectiveness and safety of these laws from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Removes Vermont's problematic sidewalk use requirement. Current statute requires people to walk on sidewalks when present. Sidewalks in VT are often in very poor condition and unusable by those using assistive devices even during the summer. In the winter, ponding often results in sidewalks being unusable—and that’s when they have been plowed. People walk in the street for these and other legitimate reasons. This and other jaywalking laws put the burden of safety on our most vulnerable users, and across the country have disproportionately affected marginalized groups.
Allows people on bikes to cross intersections on pedestrian signals. It is very safe and intuitive for people on bikes to cross intersections on parallel walk signals after stopping and yielding to people walking. This practice allows people on bikes to get out ahead of cars, which reduces exposure and makes us more visible. This should be made legal in state law.
Corrects the definition of pedestrian to include people using wheelchairs and other assistive devices. The definition of “pedestrian” extends important legal protections, such as being granted the legal right-of-way in crosswalks. Electric wheelchair users are extended this protection, but the current definition of “pedestrian” in statute is not inclusive of users in non-powered wheelchairs and other devices.