The Virginia General Assembly has passed two road-safety bills with bipartisan support.  Please thank Senators Ebbin and Williams Graves and Delegate Seibold for initiating successful legislation to make Virginia streets safer for all.  

  • Senator Adam Ebbin’s SB1416 – This bill, if signed by the Governor, would update the Code of Virginia to be more effective at prosecuting drivers who strike and kill or seriously injure a vulnerable road user who is lawfully within a crosswalk. Under current law, failure to stop for a person crossing in a crosswalk is a traffic infraction with a maximum penalty of $250, even if the driver struck and killed the person. SB1416 increases the maximum penalty for a driver who strikes and kills or seriously injures a person lawfully within a crosswalk to $2,500 and the possibility of jail time. The General Assembly passed SB1416 with bipartisan support, 40-Y 0-N in the Senate and 75-Y 20-N in the House
  • Senator Angela Williams Graves’ SB1233, with speed safety camera provisions from Delegate Holly Siebold’s HB2041 – SB1233, if signed by the Governor, will allow jurisdictions to use crosswalk and stop sign violation monitoring systems in school zones, highway work zones and high-risk speed corridors within 1,000 feet of school property; i.e., the same locations where jurisdictions are already authorized to use speed safety cameras. SB1233 includes new guardrails and reporting requirements, including daily accuracy checks of speed cameras, and allows localities to use fines collected for operation of the monitoring systems for local traffic-safety projects.  The General Assembly supported a conference committee substitute for  SB1233 with bipartisan votes of 25-Y 15-N in the Senate and 54-Y 40-N in the House.

Proposed budget amendments for bicycling infrastructure improvements were not included in the General Assembly’s adopted budget.  A dozen member-proposed amendments, such as Senator Bill DeSteph’s proposed funding for trails in Northampton County and Virginia Beach and Delegate Paul Krizek’s proposed funding for trails as part of land preservation initiatives, were not included in the General Assembly’s final package of budget amendments.

Actions requested:

Please thank your Senator and Delegate if they voted for SB1416 and SB1233 as indicated in the Senate and House vote links above and listed below.

Please especially thank and congratulate bill patrons Senator Ebbin, Senator Williams Graves, and Delegate Seibold for their commitment to street safety.

Please also send a short note to Governor Youngkin asking that he sign SB1416 and SB1233 into law as incremental, bipartisan measures for safer streets for all.

Looking forward:

The Virginia Bicycling Federation (VBF) Advocacy Committee welcomes and invites your input and feedback regarding legislative and regulatory initiatives to improve safety for people who bike and to fund bicycling infrastructure. Contact us at vbfadvocacycommittee@gmail.com. Thanks!

How can you take action?

The Yes Votes on SB1416 and SB1233 are available as follows:

SB1416 Senate – All Senators

SB1416 House – 75 Delegates:  Anthony, Askew, Batten, Bennett-Parker, Bulova, Callsen, Campbell, Carr, Cherry, Clark, Cohen, Cole, Convirs-Fowler, Cordoza, Cousins, Coyner, Delaney, Earley, Ennis, Feggans, Fowler, Gardner, Glass, Green, Hayes, Helmer, Henson, Hernandez, Herring, Higgins, Hodges, Hope, Jones, Kent, Keys-Gamarra, Kilgore, Krizek, Laufer, LeVere Bolling, Lopez, Lovejoy, Maldonado, Martinez, McClure, McNamara, McQuinn, Milde, Mundon King, O’Quinn, Obenshain, Orrock, Owen, Phillips, Price, Rasoul, Reaser, Reid, Seibold, Sewell, Sickles, Simonds, Singh, Sullivan, Tata, Thomas, Torian, Tran, Wachsmann, Walker, Ward, Watts, Willett, Williams, Wyatt, Mr. Speaker–75.

SB1233 Senate – 25 Senators:  Aird, Bagby, Boysko, Carroll Foy, Craig, Deeds, Diggs, Ebbin, Favola, Hashmi,, Jordan, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, McPike, Mulchi, Pekarsky, Perry, Roem, Rouse, Salim, Srinivasan, Surovell, VanValkenburg, Williams Graves–25

SB1233 House – 54 Delegates:  Anthony, Bennett-Parker, Bloxom, Bulova, Callsen, Clark, Cohen, Cole, Convirs-Fowler, Cousins, Coyner, Delaney, Ennis, Feggans, Gardner, Green, Hayes, Helmer, Henson, Hernandez, Herring, Higgins, Hope, Jones, Keys-Gamarra, Krizek, Laufer, LeVere Bolling, Lopez, Maldonado, Martinez, McClure, McQuinn, Mundon King, Reaser, Reid, Runion, Seibold, Sewell, Sickles, Simon, Simonds, Singh, Sullivan, Thomas, Torian, Tran, Walker, Ward, Watts, Willett, Williams, Wilt, Mr. Speaker–54

We ask that you reach out to your Delegate and Senator as indicated above. If you are unsure who your legislators are, enter your address here.

Send notes to Governor Youngkin via this link with the suggested subject line. “Please sign SB1233 and SB1416”.