Gainesville State Rep. Carl Rogers has scheduled a public hearing for Monday, October 7 on the legislation he crafted late in the 2013 session. The meeting will be held from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Hall County Government Center.
Rogers said Thursday that the goal of the proposed legislation is safety, since he has concerns about cyclists who have been injured by motor vehicles. And, he said, he is concerned about the safety of drivers who often cross the center line of a roadway trying to keep the mandated three-feet buffer between their vehicles and a bicycle.
Rebecca Serna, the director of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, said Friday she doesn't like the idea of charging fees for bicycles to share the roads. Still, she said she thinks she knows why three Hall County lawmakers wrote the legislation.
"I think this is coming from a place of frustration with the way our streets are designed," Serna told Georgia News Network. "Especially in north Georgia...you have a lot of hilly, mountainous roads and groups that go up there and ride because it's beautiful, people are up there driving because it's beautiful."
Serna said even if the legislation passes, coordinating registration for bicycles would be a nightmare.
"It would create just so much bureaucracy and so much overhead that it would be impossible to enforce," said Serna.
Hall County lawmakers Rep. Lee Hawkins and Rep. Emory Dunahoo are co-sponsors of House Bill 689.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/10/266356