If you haven’t seen it yet, the Lincoln Journal Star featured an article in the July 19 Sunday edition about cyclist Jen Schmidt’s crash June 12. Jen suffered many broken bones and will be recovering for quite a while. The full article delves more into that. If you have access I encourage you to read the full account. This is the first time Nebraska’s Vulnerable Road User law has been used. I’ve included an excerpt from the article written by Alyssa Johnson here:
Before the crash, Schmidt said she had never been afraid to ride on the road. “I had never really had issues with drivers,” Schmidt said. “Some drivers get a little bit hostile with that, seeing a biker on the road and they kind of yell out, ‘get on the trails’, and I just kind of brush it off.” Schmidt said drivers need to do a better job of sharing the road. “I think the thing I want to come out of this, to highlight anyway for Lincoln and the whole state of Nebraska actually, is biker and runner safety,” Schmidt said. “I love both of those communities, and if I’m that catalyst for bringing those together, I’m very, very happy about that.” The driver, 76 year-old Timothy Blythe from Sprague, was cited for failing to yield to a vulnerable road user. “He hit me from behind…he has no excuse,” Schmidt said.
The Journal Star reached out to Blythe for a comment, but did not get a response. According to the Lincoln Police Department, this is the first citation issued by police under Nebraska’s revised move-over law. The law, which took effect last fall, requires drivers to slow down and move over when approaching stopped vehicles and vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, people in crosswalks and agricultural equipment. Those found guilty can be issued a traffic infraction with fines varying from $50 to $400 dollars. Depending on the driver’s speed at the time of the crash.
Julie Harris, executive director of Bike Walk Nebraska, said the organization spent years advocating for the legislation after several fatal crashes, including cyclists who were legally riding on public roads. “It doesn’t matter if you agree about whether they should be out there, or if you agree on any of that, the fact is, it’s legal,” Harris said. “We need there to be laws in place that support and protect those folks. A lot of times our laws are skewed towards drivers and cars, and it’s easy to forget that the person who is riding their bike is even more vulnerable.” … “To see that the system is working better, that is exactly what we were wanting when we started working on that bill. It’s very gratifying,” Harris said. “And making sure that there’s justice when something terrible happens, that’s the bottom line.” Schmidt says her case sets a precedent for how the citation demonstrates the law has real consequences.
Bike Walk Nebraska explains the new law this way:
You are going to start seeing and hearing the term ‘VRU’, which stands for Vulnerable Road User. If you are a person who bikes or walks around your community, you likely understand and identify with the concept of being vulnerable on the road.
However, there are many others who fall into this category that you perhaps have not considered, including:
- Road construction and utility employees
- Emergency service providers
- Persons occupying the shoulder due to vehicular issues, repairs, or towing
- Law enforcement making a traffic stop
- A person riding or walking an animal;
- A person lawfully operating farm/ag equipment or horse-drawn carriage,
- A person using wheelchair or electric personal mobility device
- A person with a visual impairment and accompanying service animals