Well, we are still in Yellow Land in Santa Fe although my Bombtown bretheren just went to green. Maybe the light at the end of the Covid tunnel is not the oncoming train after all.
Some good news. Sen. Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez has introduced SB 369 to define e-Bikes in New Mexico law. Currently, they are neither fish nor fowl and deciding how to regulate them in such a murky enviroment is sure to cause more harm than good. Take a look at the bill and email the Senator your comments. I sent her some today and she was genuinely happy to hear from someone in the bicycling community. I don't know who she is working with.
Two motorist interactions this week and surprisingly, both positive. First one, I was bicycling into a left turn bay on W. Alameda to turn onto Guadalupe. Pickup truck pulled up on my right and stopped in the straight through lane and the window rolled down. Of course I was waiting for the usual "get off the road" stuff. Instead, this old guy (hey, I'm an old guy) in a round topped cowboy hat looking like he just rolled out of a silver mine complimented me on my left turn signal and predictability. Second one. A pickup truck passed me as I bicycled on Monterrey Drive towards the Rail Trail and then the pickup slowed to a crawl in front of me. I was waiting to be right hooked and slowed down but the motorist stopped and I passed the waiting motorist, who then turned right into a driveway.
Fascinated by this happy dance of cooperation, I did a quick U turn and thanked the lady getting out of her truck for not turning in front of me. She happily offered that she has biked in a lot of big cities and knew better than to apply the right hook.
Two for two in the win column! What more can you ask for?
And speaking of yellow....I've had enough of yellow. let's try for green?
2 comments:
Sometimes even I am amazed at how understanding of traffic rules AND courtesy some motorists are. Heck, one of my more memorable bike commute experiences was when a policeman took time to compliment me on my cycling as I sat in the center of a left turn lane and he was waiting in the middle through lane for his own light to change. Apparently, he'd seen me signal lane changes leading up to the light and that I controlled my space without being a pinhead about it.
Khal and friends. I"m Susan Gautsch and I am the one working with Senator Sedillo Lopez and staff on the eBike legislation -- SB369. I'm in ABQ and launching a new ebiking company called Free-to-Roam eBiking this spring.
This bill is likely to go to committee real soon -- possibly on thursday (2 days from now) Mar 11. If not it'll be either next Saturday, Tues or Thurs as they're powering thru all legislation real quick before the 2021 session ends March 20.
You can learn so much more about it AND YOUR SUPPORT WOULD BE HUGELY VALUABLE at:
https://www.freetoroamebiking.com/nm-ebike-legislation
or email me at: hello@freetoroamebiking.com
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