03/03/2010

Tuesday, March 2, 2010, Senate File 2453, the unchanging red light bill and S.F. 2461, the complete streets bill both passed out of committees in the Minnesota Senate on unanimous voice votes. The unchanging red light bill was sent to the Senate floor for approval. The House version of the unchanging red light bill, H.F. 2616, is also been sent to the floor for approval. The complete streets bill has one more stop in the Senate finance committee before floor action.

Thanks are due to Representative Phyllis Kahn and Senator Jim Carlson for being the lead authors of the unchanging red light bills and to representatives Leon Lillie, Jean Wagenius, Diane Loeffler and Sandra Masin and senators Mike Jungbauer and Sandra Pappus for being co-authors. Thanks are also due to Senator Mee Moua, Chair of the Judiciary Committee, for hearing the unchanging red light bill in her committee. The Judiciary Committee unanimously approved an amendment to remove the Transportation Committee amendment that added a sunset clause. The sunset clause was added based on a hurried discussion that there would be a technological solution to the problem but there was little discussion on the time and cost of implementation. The House and Senate bills are now the same so when they are passed by the full House and Senate they can be sent directly to the Governor.

S.F. 2453 and H.F. 2616 amend Minnesota Statutes 169.06, Signs, Signals, Markings, Subd. 9 to insert the words “bicycle or” into the existing law that allows motorcycles an affirmative defense for proceeding through a red light if the motorcycle is unable to trigger the signal to change to green. This is current law in many other states . It requires that bicyclists and motorcyclists stop, take the time to determine that the signal is not going to change, yield and proceed only when safe. The affirmative defense does not make does not make this action legal, but it does allow a police officer or judge the option of dismissing the charge if the bicyclist or motorcyclist has taken the steps outlined in the law.

Unchanging signals are an issue with experienced bicyclists because it creates a safety hazard when bicyclists are stranded in the left turn lane that potentially clogs intersections and inconveniences vehicle drivers behind stranded bicyclists. Bicycling in Minnesota continues to increase as a mode of transportation and is being encouraged because of its individual health, environmental and community benefits. There are more, and will be even more, experienced bicyclists that follow the rules of the road and use turn lanes with loop detectors at signalized intersections. BikeMN supports making this simple change because it would improve conditions for all vehicle drivers.

More information on the complete streets legislation can be found at: www.mncompletestreets.org.

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