Tell AAA to stop fighting SB 910
Are you surprised to know that AAA’s two California chapters – the California State Automobile Association and the Automobile Club of Southern California – are urging Gov. Jerry Brown to veto SB 910?
You shouldn’t be.
In legislative hearings on SB 910 in Sacramento this summer, the auto clubs argued that a 3-foot passing requirement might confuse and inconvenience drivers and cause traffic tie-ups. Yet they cannot cite any evidence of these imagined consequences from the 19 other states with 3-foot passing laws, including Wisconsin, where a 3-foot passing distance has been the law for 38 years. No evidence!
The auto clubs propose gutting SB 910 by making the 3-foot passing provision optional, without acknowledging that more bicyclists die from being hit by drivers passing from behind than from any other type of vehicle collision. Imagine what AAA pays out every time one of its policyholders hits or kills a bicyclist!
These are AAA’s traditional tactics. AAA has turned huge membership revenues into political clout for fighting vehicle safety, clean fuel and air quality laws. Last year AAA’s Mid-Atlantic chapter fought the installation of bike lanes near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and called on Congress to stop spending federal transportation funds on bicycling and pedestrian projects.
AAA carefully avoids showing this ugly face to its members. Browse CSAA’s member magazine and you’ll find cheerful articles about National Bike Month, Portland’s bike-friendliest neighborhood, the annual Cycle Oregon ride, and wine country bicycling in Sonoma County. Meanwhile, AAA fights proposed changes to existing California law that will make our streets safer for AAA members and others who ride bicycles.
Tell the auto clubs that fighting SB 910 is wrong and irresponsible. Below is a sample letter you can copy and mail to Paula Downey, CSAA’s president, and Thomas KcKernan, the Automobile Club of Southern California’s CEO. Feel free to modify the letter as needed, especially if you or a friend or family member has been hit by a driver passing too close. Please also send us a copy of your letter.
And if you’re ready for an alternative to AAA, check out the Oregon-based Better World Club, which offers auto insurance, travel services, and roadside assistance for bikes as well as motor vehicles, and also monitors AAA’s darker side. California is the club’s biggest market.
Send a letter to AAA
Address your letter to one or both auto club CEOs:
Paula F. Downey
President
California State Automobile Association
1276 California Blvd.
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Thomas V. McKernan
Chief Executive Officer
Automobile Club of Southern California
2601 S. Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90007-3254
Dear ______________________,
I’m a AAA member and I’m writing to express my concern about the AAA’s opposition to Senate Bill 910, which would require drivers in California to give bicyclists at least 3 feet of clearance when passing from behind.
As you surely know, 40% of adult bicyclists who die in vehicle collisions are killed by drivers passing them from behind – this is the single largest cause of such deaths. Existing law contributes to this problem by failing to specify how much clearance drivers should give bicyclists. SB 910 provides that guidance.
Yet at recent legislative hearings at the State Capitol, AAA lobbyists argued that SB 910’s 3-foot passing provision might confuse and inconvenience drivers and cause traffic tie-ups, even though they could not provide any evidence of these consequences in the 19 other states that have enacted 3-foot passing laws, including Wisconsin, which enacted its 3-foot passing law 38 years ago.
As a driver, I take seriously my responsibility to share the road safely with bicyclists and other road users who are particularly vulnerable to vehicle collisions. That’s why I support the commonsense, easy-to-understand guidance for drivers provided in SB 910.
AAA’s opposition to SB 910 is dangerously irresponsible. I strongly urge you to reconsider this position.
Sincerely,
SIGNATURE
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP