Final Push for a Bill to Toughen Maryland's Vehicular Manslaughter Laws

Maryland House Bill 363 is due for a vote in Annapolis on Monday, and the bicycling community--and families who've lost loved ones on Maryland's roads to vehicular manslaughter--are engaged in a last minute push to convince lawmakers to pass the bill. 

Ed Kohls, whose son Connor was killed by a man who paid a $1,200 dollar traffic ticket and was able to keep driving, is keeping a close eye on Maryland's House Bill 363, "Manslaughter by Vehicle or Vessel". This is the bill that passed the House and got hung up in the Senate over concerns it might be applied to broadly. It allows for a possible 3 year jail term and a fine, but the crime would still be a misdemeanor. 

Delegate Luiz Simmons has been the lead on the bill, calling Maryland's current vehicular manslaughter laws "cosmically absurd". In an e-mail sent on the eve of the vote, he wrote to WTOP "We are making furious efforts to save the bill and get past second and third reader and over to the House before midnight." Simmons is not new to the fight to toughen laws on vehicular manslaughter--he's been pushing the legislation for seven years now. 

Kohl, whose son was killed in 2008, has twice offered personal testimony--heard in WTOP's coverage of the bill-- about the grief he and his wife experienced, and their outrage over the fact that after killing their son, the driver was fined, only to continue driving and end up with a DUI conviction in a different case. He writes in an email to WTOP "My wife and I lost the love of our lives and must live out our life sentence every day."

While lawmakers, including Senator Brian Frosh, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee, have expressed reservations about the law, Kohls insists that it's reasonable, and the language closes a loophole that lets drivers with the most egregious records get away with a traffic ticket.

Will Their Pedal Power Influence Lawmakers?

There's a move by cyclists to hit the road in support of Maryland's House Bill 363, the bill to change Maryland's vehicular manslaughter laws.

Friends of the late Larry Bensky plan on riding from Baltimore to Annapolis in time for a Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing on the bill. You can see details the ride here.

Tami Bensky offered testimony on the House bill when it was first introduced in the Maryland House Judiciary Committee. You heard some of her testimony on WTOP, hers is the second voice in this piece

WTOP has been following the action on this bill (and bills like it in the past) expect more coverage as the bill heads to the Judicial Proceedings Committee.

Bike DC Rolls Around Again...

And finally this year, I can make it!

In year's past, I've always seemed to be on travel when Bike DC has rolled around. Not this time. I'll be there, enjoying the feel of the GW Parkway pavement under my wheels.

Can't wait!

Making the Case...For and Against a New Vehicular Manslaughter Law

Supporters of Maryland House Bill 363, a bill supporters say would finally put teeth in Maryland's vehicular manslaughter laws--adding jail terms of up to 3 years--are worried. The bill made it out of the House, but it could stall in the Senate. Here's why: one Senator critical to getting the bill out of committee, has real reservations about it. Keep reading to see what we're reporting on WTOP and to listen to past testimony from witnesses at the House hearing earlier in the session.