Citing Route 1 hazards, Surovell introduces legislation to address road safety

Scott Surovell represents a large portion of the Richmond Highway area in the Virginia Senate. (Courtesy of Scott Surovell)

State Sen. Scott Surovell’s legislative priorities in the upcoming Virginia General Assembly session include a number of bills that address road safety issues.

A measure to crack down on distracted driving leads the bills being introduced by Surovell, and he’s also sponsoring legislation that aims to increase penalties for pedestrian-related crashes and reduce bicycle lane violations. 

Surovell, whose sprawling 36th district covers much of the Richmond Highway area, cites pedestrian deaths in Route 1 corridor and unsafe driving practices on Sherwood Hall Lane as a motivation for two of the pieces of legislation.

 “The Route 1 Corridor has a much higher incidence of pedestrian fatalities than any other road in Northern Virginia,” Surovell wrote on his blog today. “I am introducing a ‘vulnerable user’ bill which creates a lower criminality threshold and higher penalties for drivers who injure pedestrians and cyclists. Also, in an attempt to address the scourge of vehicles continuing to pass stopped vehicles on Sherwood Hall Lane, I am introducing legislation to make clear that bicycle lanes cannot be used by cars to pass other vehicles.”

Last year three pedestrians were killed on or near Richmond Highway, and a 2.5-mile portion of the road from Hybla Valley to the Woodlawn area was named one of the most dangerous stretches for pedestrians in the county. 

Both the ‘vulnerable user’ bill and bicycle lanes bills are expected to be posted online later this week, Surovell said. 

Surovell says his number one priority going into the session is legislation that would prohibit drivers from holding mobile phones will operating a vehicle. Citing statistics that road deaths in Virginia increased by 10 percent in the first six months of 2016, Surovell said distracted driving must be addressed. 

“Anyone driving our roads only has to look at the vehicle next to them to realize this is a problem that requires attention,” Surovell said. 

Surovell’s bill, SB 860, would expand current law that only forbids reading emails or text messages while driving. 

Surovell said he intends to file about 40 bills this session. The following bills are already on the Virginia Legislative Information System website:

• Foreign business entities; services of summons for witness or subpoena duces tecum (SB 814)
• Child support, unpaid; priority of debts to be paid from decedent’s assets (SB 815)
• Increases threshold amount of money taken, etc., from $200 to $1,000 for grand larceny and certain property crimes (SB 816)
• Restricted driver’s license; would allow people to drive to job interview on restricted license (SB 817)
• Potomac River Watershed; DEQ to identify owner of any combined sewer overflow outfall, etc (SB 818)
• Preliminary protective orders; contents of order (SB 861)
• Driving after forfeiture of license (SB 862)
• Operating a motor vehicle; obstructed view; secondary offense (SB 863)
• Forbid the introduction of snakehead fish into state water from anywhere (SB 906)
• Require Virginia residency for leadership members of governing boards of public institutions of higher education (SB 907)
• Ratifies Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (SJ 221)
• Amend state constitution in regards to registration of voters (first reference) (SJ 226)
• Amend state constitution to allow a governor to serve two consecutive terms in office (SJ 227)

The 2017 general assembly kicks off on Wednesday.