The Virginia Biker Network » laws

New Virginia Toll Lanes Designed to Create Congestion

Hersey — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:38:00 +0000

Illegal political contributions helped an Australian firm land a lucrative toll road deal that grants the company unprecedented power over Northern Virginia’s transportation future. Last week, Transurban wrote and asked state lawmakers to return checks that the Melbourne-based toll road operator had written in violation of federal campaign laws. But the deal these contributions helped bring about has already been finalized.

In June, the US Department of Transportation created a first-of-its-kind $1.6 billion financing package that consisted of tax-free bonds, loans and state taxpayer grants to support the project that will add a pair of High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes to the Interstate 495 Capital Beltway just outside of Washington, DC. To this amount, Transurban only added $349 million of its own capital — less than the cost of interest — toward the construction of the toll lane.

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New Law Affects Scooter Drivers

Hersey — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:59:02 +0000

Many people are trading in their car keys and hopping on scooters to save money on gas.

But starting Tuesday, many scooter drivers will have to follow the same laws that apply to motorcycle riders. The big change has to do with speed and not engine size, which is how it is on the law books now.

July 1st, if your scooter goes more than 35 miles an hour, you have to obey the same rules as any motorcycle driver.

“In 2007, we sold approximately 50 scooters. In May 2008, we sold 50 scooters,” says Chelsea Lahmer, owner of Scoot Richmond.

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States green-light new red-light laws for motorcycles

Hersey — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:12:19 +0000

Motorcyclists in a growing number of states are being allowed to go through red lights when sensors aren’t able to detect they are there.

In May, South Carolina became the seventh state to give motorcyclists license to proceed with caution after stopping when the device that causes the light to change from red to green doesn’t activate, according to Imre Szauter, government affairs manager for the American Motorcyclist Association.

North Carolina passed a similar law in 2007. Wisconsin (2006), Idaho (2006) Arkansas (2005), Tennessee (2003) and Minnesota (2002), all have passed laws the past six years, Szauter said. Bills have been introduced for the same purpose in Georgia, Missouri and Oklahoma, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and the legislative websites for those states.

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