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2005 |
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Next Metra Stop: Friendlytown! Health and Safety En Route to School Suburb's Streets Resound Briefly with Laughter, Joy Chicago Now Designated "Bike Friendly" |
What About Boub? In spite of our best efforts, we’re having a tough time getting rid of the 1998 Boub court decision that threw Illinois liability law out of sync with other states, creating a disincentive to local governments for bike lanes and routes.
Our bill to fix it, HB2390, narrowly passed the state House and then with encouragement from the city of Chicago, was sent to die in the local government committee of the state Senate. Most local governments, bike-friendly Chicago included, are so enraged by lawsuits, that transportation equity and policy issues are not even considered. Even though Boub provided no noticeable reduction in claims against local governments, it is protected with tactics of misinformation and confusion. That’s easy to do when an issue is this complex. In spite of what we are up against, we are closer than ever to winning. We would likely have won a full Senate vote which is why the bill’s opponents orchestrated the committee switch. The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and League of Illinois Bicyclists staff will be meeting with sponsors, Sen. John Cullerton, Rep. Elaine Nekritz and Rep. Randy Hultgren to plan a strategy for early 2006. We will continue to negotiate with bill opponents, including the city of Chicago, to allay unnecessary fears and find common ground. The efforts of CBF members and our allies and sponsors in the legislature have brought us a long way. With perseverance, this is winnable. We are just a few votes away. It is vital to our work for bikeways in Illinois. Thanks for helping us continue this important fight. Randy Neufeld is chief strategy officer of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation
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