Every year, lawmakers come to Annapolis brimming with ideas to make our roads just a little bit safer. Some of them are sound and logical. Some of them are well-intentioned but harebrained schemes. Most of them get a few minutes in the spotlight and then never see the light of day.
Last week, a House of Delegates committee held hearings on a few of the less-publicized bills intended to promote transportation safety. Some of them had a great deal of merit and could make it into law. Others are sound proposals that are destined to be snuffed out in a late-night committee vote. Others deserve to be mercifully put to sleep.
If you watch the General Assembly long enough, you can get a pretty good sense of what legislators - particularly the all-important committee chairmen - think of a bill as it is being heard. And you learn to recognize which opposition is the kiss of death. So here are a few of the proposals with an assessment of their chances:
HB67: This bill, by Dels. Brian Feldman and Bill Bronrott, both Montgomery County Democrats, would fill a gap in Maryland law by requiring drivers to signal a lane change. Thought that was already the law? Think again. The sponsors and AAA Mid-Atlantic said they were surprised to learn that Maryland stands alone among states in making such signals optional. The bill had no opponents and all the right support.
Prospects: Unless the sponsors have mortal enemies in the wrong places, the bill should fly.
HB187: Del. Tanya Shewell, a Carroll County Republican, wants to require helmets for bicyclists and operators of mopeds and motor scooters. She brought supporters from the medical profession and the Maryland Department of Disabilities. And she brought real people with a tragic story to tell.
Brianne Masilek, 16, told lawmakers about the death in August of her cousin, 17-year-old Nicholas Kordell, who was riding a moped without a helmet when he was hit by a car and thrown over the handle bars. He died after four days in the hospital with massive head trauma.
Brianne did a wonderful job speaking up for her cousin. Other advocates made an impressive case that these vehicles' operators should be held to the same requirements as motorcyclists.
But members of the House Environmental Matters Committee gave the bill a lukewarm reception. Some voiced concerns about how police would enforce it given that riders of these vehicles don't have to be licensed.
