Share the Road: What We Need is a Total Shift In Attitude

Each year legislators introduce thousands of bills, and many of them are never even heard. Some are highly controversial and obtain significant media coverage. Others slide through the process barely noticed. One such bill this session is HB 1666, the vulnerable users’ bill.

HB 1666 creates a new class of roadway user called the “vulnerable user (VU),” e.g., bicyclists, pedestrians and others basically not encased in steel. Any driver who is negligent and injures or kills a VU will be punished more than someone who hurts or kills someone encased in steel.

Proponents of this bill say we need to make this a law to “protect” VUs and that this bill will encourage people to be more aware of them. What seems to be missing from the conversation, however, is the inequity this bill creates.
Take the following situation as an example.

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