Virginia's Proposed Bicycle Safety Act Puts the Onus on Drivers

Wyatt Gordon reports on the Bicycle Safety Act, recently proposed in the Virginia General Assembly.

The Bicycle Safety Act, HB2262 and SB1263, "would require drivers to fully change lanes to pass people biking, allow cyclists to ride two abreast in a lane, and permit people on bicycles to treat stop signs as yield signs," according to Gordon.

The bill has already made progress, advancing out of the Senate Transportation committee earlier this month. According to Gordon, the new Bicycle Safety Act would build on the safety improvements of the hands-free law approved by the General Assembly in 2020.

According to Gordon, the Bicycle Safety Act is modeled on the example of the Bicycle Friendly Delaware Act approved in the First State in 2017. Delaware built on the limited success of an iteration of the passing law—requiring three feet of space for divers passing people on bikes.

"Since 2013, Virginia law has required drivers to pass cyclists with three feet of clearance. In Delaware, the same rule was never enforced until it mandated a lane change," according to Gordon.