Posts tagged Contributory Negligence
-
A DC law that was terribly unfair to cyclists and pedestrians will soon be a thing of the past. Let’s thank the DC Council.
Since the spring, the DC Council has been flirting with a bill that would end “contributory negligence,” an unjust rule that keeps people who are hit when walking or biking from collecting medical costs from a driver’s insurance. The bill officially passed on Tuesday. Please help us thank the legislators who made it happen. Keep reading…
-
A unanimous vote to end DC’s unjust insurance law for people walking and biking
On Tuesday, the DC Council unanimously approved a bill to end the extremely unjust “contributory negligence” rule which frequently forbids people who are hit when walking or biking from collecting medical costs from a driver’s insurance. Keep reading…
-
Breakfast links: Victory in the bike lane
Bicycle law advances; Metrobus falls behind; Transit wish list; Who’s on the permit?; A vehicle for change?; ANC nominations begin; Violent crime up, overall crimes down; And…. Keep reading…
-
DC could end its most unjust rule of the road now. Ask the DC Council to delay no longer.
A man named Kevin Washington was riding his bike on 19th Street NW toward M Street NW. As far as anyone knows, he was obeying every traffic law. He was in the street; he was in the right lane; he wasn’t speeding. A trash truck was in the middle lane, the one to his left. Suddenly, it turned across his path and hit him. In a subsequent lawsuit, DC’s highest court ruled that… Keep reading…
-
DC Council postpones fixing an injustice to pedestrians and cyclists because Kenyan McDuffie’s dog ate his homework
I’m on vacation in Copenhagen, but am writing a post anyway )using a Danish keyboard where the punctuation is all in a different place= because I’m sufficiently annoyed at Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie. He seems to have just read a very important bill to protect people walking and bicycling at the very last minute, then asked for an extension because it didn’t… Keep reading…
-
DC’s harmful traffic law needs to go, one way or another
If a driver hits you while you’re walking or biking in DC, the law makes it almost impossible to collect from the driver’s insurance. A bill to fix that is suddenly in jeopardy just hours before a scheduled vote. Please ask the DC Council to move it forward. So the months long effort to reform D.C.'s contrib negligence law could unravel hours before the vote. #bikedc—… Keep reading…
-
DC is on the verge of ditching a harmful traffic law
Right now, DC has a law that keeps drivers from being held responsible for damages when they harm vulnerable road users. After years of organizing and effort, the DC Council is about to vote on a proposal to change this. You have a chance to speak up. Keep reading…
-
A law that blames you, instead of the driver who hit you, could soon meet its end
In 2008, a driver in a minivan hit me (Tracy) when I was riding my bike on Connecticut Avenue, fracturing my pelvis in three places. The driver’s insurance company denied my claim because of a law that says if you’re even 1% at fault, you can’t collect anything. The good news? DC is moving to change this. Keep reading…
-
Breakfast links: Rights on the road
Contributory negligence back on the table; Just phoning it in; Buses and buses only; Motion on minimum wage; NoMa mixes it up; Cool down on Crystal City; New bills; San Francisco goes solar; And…. Keep reading…
-
Drivers who kill people on bikes often don’t get prosecuted
Since 1971, there have been 109 fatal bicycle crashes in the DC region. Authorities rarely prosecute the drivers, and when they do, punishments aren’t very harsh. During that span, there have been 32 cases where either the federal government’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System or media reports said a driver was at fault in a fatal crash with someone on a bike. Authorities… Keep reading…