Help Pass Vulnerable Road User Ordinance!
Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition announces a new campaign aimed at protecting
you from being harassed because you're riding your bicycle or walking. Our goal
is to see our proposed "Vulnerable Road Users Protection Ordinance” passed
throughout Sonoma County.
SCBC’s proposed ordinance is modeled on laws passed recently in Los Angeles,
Washington DC, and Sunnyvale, CA. We believe, in light of the recent assault by
Harry Smith of bicyclist Toraj Soltani, that it has never been more urgent for
our community to do more to protect people on our roads.
While Smith’s behavior with regard to Soltani is clearly a criminal offense,
Smith has a record of prior incidents of harassing people riding bikes. The
Vulnerable Road Users Protection Ordinance would help catch people who harass
and threaten bicycle riders and pedestrians, and demonstrate that they are
accountable for their behavior. The law will help discourage harassment and
hopefully prevent harassers from becoming assailants.
If passed, the ordinance would send a strong message that Sonoma County and
its cities do not tolerate the harassment of people riding bicycles or walking
here. In addition, the Vulnerable Road Users Protection Ordinance creates civil
remedies in cases of legitimate harassment. The remedies allow for the victim
to recover damages, attorneys’ fees, and punitive damages. Violators of the law
will be liable for triple the actual damages with regard to each and every such
violation, or $1,000, whichever is greater, and will be liable for reasonable
attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation. In addition, a jury or court may award
punitive damages where warranted.
We all have stories of getting threatened, buzzed, slapped, and hit with
soda cans when we're out riding. Some have worse stories to report. We must
ensure the safety of the people who enjoy bicycling and walking in Sonoma
County, protect our County’s well-deserved reputation as an amazing place to
spend time outdoors. We must pass this ordinance to protect us all!
SCBC's needs your support to get the Vulnerable Road User Protection
Ordinance passed. Please help us raise $30,000 by October 31st in support of
this important legislation.
Please click here to donate to protect us all!
Update on Harry Smith Case
On August 16th, Santa Rosa business owner Toraj Soltani sustained was riding his bike in Oakmont when a man in a car began harassing him. The man, Harry Smith bumped Soltini intentionally with his car and chased him. When Soltini fled in the other direction, Smith pursued. Soltini rode onto a golf course and was shocked to find Smith chasing him down on the golf course. Smith ran down Soltani, who sustained a badly broken wrist and other -- surprisingly -- more minor injuries. Smith is known to have harassed a person riding a bicycle on at least one other occasion. At the time he assaulted Soltani, he was driving with a suspended license. Last week, Smith appeared in court to face two felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor charge of driving with a suspended license. At the time, he requested to delay entering a plea, pending mental evaluation. Judge LaForge granted the request, and set his bail at $100,000; he ordered Smith to return to court on August 31st to enter a plea. Smith posted bail following last week's hearing. Smith returned to court, as ordered, today, where he faced charges amended by the District Attorney to attempted murder. The People also requested that Smith's bail be set at $1M, the statutory level for attempted murder. Smith's attorney argued against the $1M bail, on the basis that Smith is elderly, in poor health, not a flight risk, and has a wife in ill health. Judge LaForge refused to reduce the bail, and sent Smith back into custody, ordering him to appear in Court (Department 3) for arraignment at 8:30 a.m. on September 10th. www.bikesonoma.org/Harrysmith
Update on Robert Cowart Case
Robert Cowart appeared in courtroom 4 today in connection with charges against him for crashing into SSU professor Steve Norwick, who died of his injuries. There is some confusion about Cowart's doctor's report. He is set to be back in court on September 7th and
21st. Stay tuned for details. Link to my website
Sonoma County Bicycle Expo 2012 = Awesome!!!
We've been so busy, we haven't been able to provide a report-back from the 8/23 Sonoma County Bicycle Expo!
It was amazing, and we hope you were there to enjoy it. From the stupendous vendors, to great food and drink, OneLove BMX's performances, wonderful street musicians, Bike Monkey's One World Dirt Crit, and super fabulous people -- the Expo had it all! We are still flying high from a great day. A special highlight this year was the Velogenesis Exhibition, which brought together 8 custom frame builders with Paragon Machine Works to build 2 custom bikes on site. Wow! Inglis/Retrotec, Bruce Gordon, Rafael Cycles, Rebolledo Cycles, Soulcraft, Sycip, and Gary Helfrich teamed up to build a custom steel town bike frame and fork. It was built to fit raffle winner Mike Louvau (pictured above with the builders). Meanwhile, Joel Gordon looked on while Craig Calfee and his team built raffle-winner Joel a custom bamboo-frame! SCBC thanks all the vendors, VOLUNTEERS(!!!), bike builders, performers, and everyone who made the Expo rock. Finally, thanks to sponsors: Rabobank, Whole Foods, Santa Rosa Cycling Club, New Belgium Brewing, Ravenswood, St. Francis Winery, BikePartners.net, Bike Monkey, and Santa Rosa City Employees Association. Hooray! If you're on Facebook, "like" Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition and check out Expo photos here.
Wanna Talk Bikes?
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Psssst: An SCBC membership is a great birthday gift for your cyclist friends.
Donate to SCBC
Remember, our advocacy program depends on your generosity!
Protecting federal funding for bikeways, bike lanes, and Safe Routes to School takes time and money. Please support SCBC's efforts!
Thanks to our 2012 sponsors!
SCBC Business Members
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