contributory negligence

Contact the Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee TODAY and urge them to pass Senate Bill 659.

On October 13, Mayor Bowser, Councilmembers Mary Cheh, David Grosso, and Elissa Silverman, DDOT Director Leif Dormsjo, and some of our favorite WABA members joined us for a very special member Happy Hour—to witness and celebrate the public signing of the Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act.

Great news!! After nearly three years of persistent organizing and advocacy by the WABA community, the DC Council just voted unanimously for the second time to pass the Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act to fix contributory negligence!

  Low-Stress Bike Network Prince George’s County Trails Master Plan Brief Explanation: The county’s Trails Master Plan (still in draft form), identifies how Prince George’s County intends to build and manage nearly 400 miles of new trails. The plan takes the mileage of primary trails (trails that are mostly paved, with high-quality design features, a park-like experience, and […]

Today the DC Council voted unanimously to approve the Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act of 2015.

There are real world daily consequences that come with deferring action on this issue.

A bill to fix a glaring injustice in our legal system goes before the DC council on Tuesday. Here are the facts.

On April 21st, the Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act of 2016 was introduced by DC Council Judiciary Committee chair Kenyan McDuffie and passed the committee on a 3-0 vote. It’s now awaiting a hearing before the full Council.

Yesterday, the Judiciary Committee voted 3-0 to move the Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act out of committee and recommended it for consideration by the full D.C. Council.

We just got back from the Wilson Building and we’ll have a more thorough update soon, but I wanted to make sure you knew that the Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act to address contributory negligence passed a markup hearing in the Judiciary Committee just a few hours ago.

The bill that would make it easier for victims of a bicycle crash to recover damages from a more negligent driver is moving this week.

The DC legislative session is in full swing with four bills relevant to bicycling. Here are our quick summaries:

Despite recent forward progress on the “Motor Vehicle Recovery Act of 2015,” the D.C. Council Committee on the Judiciary is delaying work on the bill until the fall.

The Judiciary Committee will hold a mark up hearing in July on the bill to fix the contributory negligence standard.

Last week in the District’s small claims court, a judge made a significant ruling for District bicyclists.

Councilmember Mary Cheh (Ward 3) introduced a bill in the D.C. Council to improve access to compensation for crash victims. Under current D.C. law, injured bicyclists and pedestrians can be completely denied compensation after a crash with a motor vehicle even if they were minimally negligent. In 2014,  Councilmember David Grosso (At-Large) introduced a similar bill, but it was […]

Today, D.C. Council Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety tabled a proposed bill to improve access to compensation for crash victim–effectively killing it for this legislative session. Mary Cheh (Ward 3) introduced the motion to table. Councilmember Evans (Ward 2) and Chairman Mendelson voted to table the bill. Councilmember Wells (Ward 6) voted against the motion. […]

Today, the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety held a legislative mark-up session on a number of bills, including the Bill 20-884 “Vulnerable User Recovery Act of 2014”. The Committee voted to postpone mark-up until next Wednesday, November 12th to allow all involved parties one last opportunity to craft a bill that meets the needs of […]

November 5th Update: Due to weather concerns, the location has change to Room 123 inside the Wilson Building. The press conference will still be held at 10 am. Join DC Councilmember Tommy Wells, DC Councilmember David Grosso, WABA and All Walks DC on the front steps of the John A. Wilson Building for a press conference […]

As many of you know, WABA is working hard to change the contributory negligence doctrine in DC. We have been publicly pushing for this change for years because of the negative effects the doctrine has on the District’s cyclists. Hundreds of you emailed your Councilmembers to show support for a bill that would change the doctrine to […]

All Walks DC has included a question about Contributory Negligence on their survey of candidates for DC mayor and attorney general

As we speak, the insurance industry is lobbying hard to kill proposed legislation aimed at helping injured bicyclists. They like the status quo, which allows them to easily deny claims by bicyclists who have been hit by drivers. But the present system leaves too many injured people without recourse after they’re hit—and it especially affects […]

A more in depth explanation of the problems contributory negligence poses for bicyclists.

Our testimony in support of the Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Amendment Act of 2014 is here. For more information on WABA’s efforts to address this issue, and to get involved in the push for a solution visit our Campaign Page.

We’ve received a number of questions about what the proposed law would do. We have compiled a list of common ones and answered them for you.

Often referred to as the “one percent” rule, the Contributory Negligence doctrine prohibits you from recovering damages (money) from a crash if a court thinks you are in any way responsible for the crash.

Thanks to everyone who came out on Friday to testify in support of safer streets for cyclists.  The barrage of stories from cyclists was often heartbreaking, but also clearly impactful in a setting where impact was a primary goal. For those who weren’t there, watching the video, or following #pedbike on Twitter, here are links […]