"Cyclists in Suits" Day at the Capital - Austin, TX

It's time once again to head to Austin, while the legislature is in session, to lobby our Representatives and Senators to pass the Safe Passing Law. Basically, the Safe Passing Bill will require motorists to allow at least 3-feet of distance before overtaking and passing a cyclist as well as other vulnerable road users, ie. wheelchairs, pedestrians, tractors, etc. Thirty one of us boarded the BikeDFW bus early Monday morning, April 20th, for the trip to the capital. We arrived in Austin about 8:00am and met with a delegation from BikeTexas as well as other cycling clubs in Texas.

First, we were welcomed and briefed by Robin Stallings, Exec Dir of BikeTexas. Next, a lobbyist discussed tips for visiting elected officials and their staff. We broke into our assigned groups, each which had a team leader that had participated in this event in previous years. Each was assigned particular representatives and senators to visit.

We headed to the capital and the House Chamber where they were meeting in session. Representative Linda Harper-Brown, co-author of the Safe Passing Bill, recognized our group and, boy, we were an impressive group. Next, we are off to the Senate Chamber where Senator Rodney Ellis, co-author of the Safe Passing Bill, recognized our group. Again, we were quite the impressive group of cyclists.

Most of the Representatives were in conference or on the House Floor but we did talk to two Representatives and many of their staffers. The staff are who review the legislation and make recommendations to their bosses on what to support. Everyone was extremely friendly and seemed to be receptive to the Safe Passing Bill. Some had little knowledge of the bill while others were very familiar with it due to the number of emails and phone calls they had received from cyclists.

After completing our lobby efforts, everyone met at the north entrance of the capital where BikeTexas had arranged for photographs of the group. Our day is now complete at the capital and we head to the BikeTexas offices. On the way, Robin Stallings announces that the bill will go to the Senate Floor for a vote tomorrow.

The event, once again, was very educational and we felt we did some good in making our position known on bicycle safety and the Safe Passing Law.

The RESULT is good news, bad news. The bill passed both the Senate and the House and was ready for approval by Governor Perry. Thinking that Gov. Perry was not signing the bill but going to let it pass without his signature, we were all very disappointed when, on the last day, our governor VETOED the bill. He vetoed 31 other bills that all passed both the House and Senate.

The cities of Austin and San Antonio have since implemented "the safe passing law" for their cities. We expect more Texas cities to do the same in the near future.