Matt Logan asked <I just ran across this Bill in the Senate, introduced last week, . . . Does anybody know the story behind this bill?>
My understanding is that this bill is basically a clean-up bill for some items that have come up over the years but remain unaddressed or confusing in the statutes. 1) Including hand cycles in the definition of the bicycle has come up as there are more people using these vehicles. Are they bicycles or a different type of wheelchair? The answer determines where they can be operated. The bill clarifies that hand cycles should be considered bicycles and are legal on the street. 2) When the bicycle bill passed in 1995 was drafted (a few years earlier), there was a large, somewhat heavy, flashing yellow rear light for bicycles called the Belt Beacon on the market (I have one if anyone unfamiliar with it wants to see this historic relic). The current statute language was written to make that light legal by allowing the use of an amber flashing light on the rear of a bicycle. About the time the bill was passed, the red LED flashers came out and they are now extremely common. It is unclear if these popular lights are actually legal in Wisconsin. The bill clears this up by allowing rear lights to be any color . 3) This was included in the early drafts of the bicycle bill that passed in 1995, as Tim remembered, but was taken out to gain the support of a legislator who, to be polite, didn't get it. The right-arm right-turn signal has been included in the Uniform Vehicle Code for years, and it is the easiest thing to teach (point in the direction you want to turn), especially for those of us with directional dyslexia. Arthur Ross, Pedestrian-Bicycle Coordinator City of Madison Traffic Engineering Division 215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Suite 100 PO Box 2986 Madison, WI 53701-2986 608/266-6225 _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
