Bicycle-Related Proposals for Amendments to the Uniform Vehicle Code

John Allen (NCUTCD-BTC, RORC), revised November 24, 2014

I have volunteered as the NCUTCD Bicycle Technical Committee representative on the Rules of the Road Task Force established within the NCUTCD to revise the Uniform Vehicle Code. Proposals for revision are listed below. As indicated, most of them have been reviewed by the Bicycle Technical Committee and Rules of the Road Task Force, and sent out for comment from sponsors. The most recent version of each proposal is shown in the uppermost table, with earlier versions shown below that table for reference.

Proposals as of November 20, 2014

The table below includes links to Microsoft Word documents of the proposals in their most recent form, and to sponsor comments. I thank Richard Moeur for updating the proposals.

The sponsor comments linked here are the same ones as in the March 2013 collation, but split out into a separate document for comments on each proposal.

The proposals on cell phones and texting in Chapter 11, and all of the proposals in Chapter 12, were not submitted to sponsors because the NCUTCD is charged only with revisions of rules of the road and related definitions. A few proposals in Chapter 11 were withheld from submission to sponsors. The new provision on nonresponsive traffic signals replaces the Idaho traffic signal law (revision to section 11-202), which was not submitted to sponsors.

Proposals as of March, 2013, and comments from sponsors

Richard Moeur asked me to format proposals as a model law, in a single document, a Model Law. I submitted this at the end of March, 2013.

The Model Law

This was submitted to sponsors for comment. A plan to discuss the comments at the summer, 2013 meeting in Portland, Maine did not materialize, due to the large volume of comments and an e-mail problem which resulted in late arrival of some comments. I collated the comments in August, 2013, and they are here:

Collated comments from sponsors

There was also a proposal from the Signals Committee, and it is here in a version including my comments. The document indicates approval by the Rules of the Road Committee, but I'm not sure of its status at present, as there have been further developments regarding bicycle signals.

Traffic signals proposal

More-detailed information on progress of UVC proposals may be gleaned from Bicycle Technical Committee e-mail messages.

Ron van Houten presented a proposal for a change in the rule for yielding to pedestrians. This is outside the BTC's purview, though of interest to BTC members.

There is also work underway (or maybe complete?) on trail crossings of railroad tracks, with some involvement from the BTC.

I've probably missed something here!

Proposals as of April, 2012

This was my first cut at revisions. Many of these suggestions relate mostly to bicycling, but others are of broader concern. A few of the proposals reflect ongoing developments in equipment: others reflect clarifications, or modern conditions, or fill in omissions.

I formatted the proposals using the official NCUTCD template. I felt somewhat over my head in taking on the task of preparing formal proposals to the Rules of the Road Committee, up to this point largely on my own. I realize that some of the language of these proposals and some of the discussion may need strengthening. I sent a link to the versions to members of the Bicycle Technical Committee and Rules of the Road Task Force. I made the proposals available at http://john-s-allen.com/blog/?page_id=4286, for comment.

The BTC discussed these proposals at its summer 2012 meeting in Orlando, and made some changes. A few proposals were removed from the version sent to sponsors because they are outside the purview of the NCUTCD rules of the Road committee or are not established in the law of many states, and may be controversial.

The revised proposals were sent out to the Rules of the Road Committee, which offered some comments.

Also see 2000 and 2001 UVC updates linked from the Ohio Bicycle Federation site.

The proposals as of April, 2012 are linked below. They are Microsoft Word documents using the standard NCUTCD template.