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Minutes for SB274 - Committee on Transportation
Short Title
Creating the negligent driving traffic violation.
Minutes Content for Tue, Jan 30, 2018
Chairperson Petersen opened the hearing on this bill. Mr. Wells gave an overview. He noted this bill will institute a new traffic infraction for negligent driving. It would prohibit any person operating a vehicle to engage in any activity that interferes with the safe control and operation of the vehicle.
Senator Hawk asked to clarify the terms reckless, distracted, and negligent driving and whether they are synonymous. He noted Kansas has the anti-texting law but no negligent driving statute. Mr. Wells did look at the City of Topeka, and that city prohibits unsafe, negligent, and inattentive driving. Senator Hawk asked if the term would be adequately defined in the bill. Mr. Wells suggested proponents from law enforcement might better answer but the proposed language is being used by the City of Topeka. Reckless driving is defined in KSA 8-1566.
Senator Fitzgerald noted various local jurisdictions have different rules around the state and this would give Kansas a statewide law. Mr. Wells said locals can adopt their own ordinances on the issue. The bill would give the Kansas Highway Patrol authority to issue a citation for a state infraction rather than for violation of a local ordinance.
Alan Apel, Kaw Valley Bicycle Club, gave proponent testimony (Attachment 2). Mr. Apel said the need for the negligent driving law was apparent when Kaw Valley Bicycle Club Board Members were comparing how many times each had been forced off the road by inattentive drivers since the three-foot law went into effect in 2011. Mr. Apel continued, noting that bicycling in the state is increasing and the public needs to be educated on how to share the road and reduce the chance of serious injury. Drivers are distracted by electronics. He stated that under current law, if a vehicle collides with a bicyclist there is a violation. However, if a bicyclist is forced off the road by an inattentive driver and the bicyclist is injured, there is no violation. This bill is based on the City of Topeka ordinance on negligent driving which in effect says any action that keeps a driver from focusing on their primary task of driving is prohibited.
Andy Fry, President, Topeka Community Cycle Project Board of Directors, gave supporting testimony (Attachment 3). Mr. Fry rides his bicycle with his daughter to daycare almost every morning. There have been 46 deaths over six years in Kansas due to drivers performing such tasks as reading a newspaper, doing makeup, or eating while driving, a rate of one death every other month. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicates crashes involving pedestrian fatalities have risen from 4,109 in 2009 to 5,375 in 2016. NHTSA also indicates bicycle fatalities rose from 628 to 818 in the same time period.
Paul Engler, Kaw Valley Bicycle Club, provided proponent testimony (Attachment 4). He said he has been riding bicycles for over 60 years. On April 12, 2016 he and two others were riding on Wanamaker at 42nd Street, single file two feet from the gutter. Flashing lights on the bicycles provided visibility to motorists. A car knocked them down, stopped and turned around, and the woman stated she was looking down and did not see them. Lasting injuries resulted from that crash and Mr. Engler was off work for 11 weeks. No citations were issued to the motorist.
Richard Alexander, solo cyclist, provided proponent testimony (Attachment 5). He has ridden almost 60 years even in foreign countries. He was struck by a car in September 2016. The driver blamed the sun and an oncoming vehicle for the accident. Mr. Alexander was walking and bicycling after six months. He has been forced off the road many times and has had many close calls, and he feels this law gives law officers an opportunity for citations for motorists for driving that puts other people in peril. Bicycles are challenged to their right to use the highway.
Joe Saia, gave supporting testimony (Attachment 6). Mr. Saia was the husband of the late Glenda Taylor who was killed by a truck that struck her from behind in Crawford County. There were 75 cyclists warming up for the Kansas State Bicycle Time Trial Championships near the town of Walnut, Ks. The truck driver in the fatal accident was sentenced to 36 months but was granted full probation and a 60-day county jail sentence. This bill could ultimately cut down on the number and severity of those kinds of terrible incidents, he said.
Steve Christenberry, ABATE of Kansas, provided proponent testimony (Attachment 7). Motorcyclists and bicyclists are quite different, pedaling vs. engine, but they experience the same right-of-way issues. ABATE has been working for several years to increase penalties for right-of-way violations. As motorcyclists are often victims of negligent driving, he asked for legislator support of this bill.
Ed Klumpp, Liaison, Kansas Sheriffs Association, Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, and Kansas Peace Officers Association, gave supporting testimony (Attachment 8). He stated cities have ordinances that are similar but not statewide law applies. Mr. Klumpp added this bill focuses on all negligent acts. The two things needed to enforce infractions are 1) prove the person was engaged in some act while operating a vehicle; and 2) prove interference with the safe control and operation of the vehicle. The League of Kansas Municipalities publishes a Standard Traffic Ordinance book and in that book is a statute on inattentive driving. However, it provides for enforcement if a crash already occurred. This bill would standardize the law across the state, and is enforceable law in his opinion, and Mr. Klumpp encouraged the Committee to move it forward.
Greg Smith, Sheriff's Liaison, Johnson County, provided proponent testimony (Attachment 9). He echoed Mr. Klumpp's statement of the two elements above. To Senator Hawk's question, he responded the bill would create an infraction, operating of a vehicle in a negligent manner, and not a criminal charge.
Supporting testimony was provided by Michael Kelley, BikeWalkKC (Attachment 10). His organization supports this bill because it would deter motorists from behavior that puts cyclists and pedestrians at greater risk of injury. If enacted, it will increase safety for users of all modes of transportation.
Alan Kailer, Bike Walk Wichita, provided proponent testimony (Attachment 11). He said this is an advocacy organization focused on the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists in Wichita, and members strongly supports this bill as being in line with that position. He stated this is not just a bill for pedestrians and bicyclists. The state has had a law on texting while driving since 2011. Since then, there have been 3,300 crashes involving texting while driving, and 10,000 involving other forms of distractions--reading, fumbling with the GPS, etc. Those additional crashes not under the texting law caused 3,300 injuries and 50 deaths. Numbers are increasing every year.
Senator Hawk asked Mr. Klumpp about concern from a constituent that the bill would give police officers more authority and increase profiling. Mr. Klumpp said he doesn't believe this creates additional opportunities for profiling than exist today. Mr. Klumpp said he definitely does not support those kinds of activities.
Senator Doll asked Mr. Wells if a bicycle would be considered a vehicle and whether a bicyclist driving erratically could be arrested. Mr. Wells said he would have to look at the definition.
Senator Pettey noted this would give law enforcement the law to make the activity stop, even with no accidents. She asked about driving while texting. Mr Klump said there is a statute against texting, but just using the phone is not the basis for stopping a motorist; there must be some deviation from safe operation of the vehicle to occur before this could be enforced. Mr. Klumpp added that 2% of accidents are related to cell phones and many of the rest are the result of inattentive driving. In many cases, the phone cannot be identified as the cause.
Senator Pettey asked Mr. Fry whether, as a cyclist, he has seen an increase in distractions related to phone usage. Mr. Fry said there has been no significant change since he has been riding, but it is prevalent at this time.
Senator Goddard said this bill would codify things that the auto industry has recognized and is already working on technology to prevent distracted driving. Head movement and Bluetooth can be distractions because drivers are talking and not paying attention to the roadway. He added there are far too many distracted incidents and a statute is needed to penalize people for distracted driving.
Senator Tyson asked whether "a circumstance interferes with safe control and operation of the vehicle" is ambiguous. Mr Klumpp responded that in his experience those words are not ambiguous. Some deviation in operation might be constant moving from lane to lane, drifting off the road, etc. Mr. Klumpp indicated he had stopped a driver who had no steering wheel on his car and who had affixed channel lock pliers on the steering column for steering, which he called an illustration of acts in which people know they should not be engaged. Current law would not cover this, but it is very similar when detecting an intoxicated driver. Senator Tyson said she witnessed a driver on I-70 with feet out the window and reading a book. Mr. Klumpp said some are seen shaving or putting on makeup.
Senator Hawk asked whether this law would apply if there was a malfunction on an autonomous vehicle. Mr. Klumpp said this law is specific, and the infraction must be the act of the driver.
Mr. Wells will look into anything that could give pause for this language. Mr. Wells said in the definition of vehicle, a bicycle is not a vehicle for this purpose.
Written only testimony was furnished by:
Becky Hall, individual, Andover (Attachment 12)
Zack Abercrombie, individual, Wichita (Attachment 13)
Christina Calhoun, Downtown Wichita bicycle commuter (Attachment 14)
There were no opponents or neutrals testifying on the bill. The hearing was closed.
