• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

BikeTexas

Advancing Bicycle Access, Safety, and Education

$0.00
(0)

Free shipping on all bike lights

Shop the BikeTexas Store!

  • Advocacy
    • Get Involved – Identify Your Legislators
    • TAP Funding
    • Complete Streets
      • Get Involved
      • Sign the Petition
    • Shifting Gears
    • Safe Passing
      • Safe Passing FAQs
    • National Bike Summit
    • VIP Bike Rides
    • NCSL Bike Rides
    • Legislative Success
    • Bikes on Driver Test Bill
    • Action Alerts
    • Matthew Brown Act
    • Contact Your Representative
    • Contacting City Council Members
    • Enhancements
    • Memorial Funds
  • Education
    • BikePedEd Books and Lights
      • BikePedEd Order Form
      • BikePedEd Sample Request
    • Educational Resources
      • Safe Routes to School Handbook
      • SafeCyclist Teacher Master Pages
    • SafeCyclist Curriculum and Certification
    • College Active Transportation Safety (CATS)
      • Presentations
      • CATS Resources and Activities
      • Safety Bling! Music Video
    • Texas Trails & Active Transportation Conference
    • Best Practices
    • BikeTexas KidsKup
      • Event Schedule
    • Share the Road Adult Education
    • Texas in Motion
  • Roads & Trails
    • Texas Bicycle Laws – 8 Things to Know
    • IMBA Rules of The Trail
    • Texas Active Living Network
    • BikeTexas Benchmark Study
    • North Texas Trails
  • About Us
    • BikeTexas BikeNews
      • Get Our Newsletter
    • Mission and Vision
    • Strategic Plan 2014-2019
    • Reports & Audits
    • Members
      • Individual Memberships
      • Business Memberships
      • Org and Club Membership
    • Contact Us
    • BikeTexas Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Board
    • Press Room
      • BikeTexas In The News
      • Press Releases
      • Resolutions
    • Memorial Funds
    • Employment
    • Earth Share
    • Annual Meeting
  • Become a Member
  • Donate
  • Store
  • eBike Tours
  • My account
    • Orders
    • Addresses
    • Payment methods
    • Account details
  • Cart
You are here: Home / BikeTexas BikeNews / BikeNews; Advocacy / Help BikeTexas Get Ready for the 2013 Legislative Session
Help BikeTexas Get Ready for the 2013 Legislative Session

Help BikeTexas Get Ready for the 2013 Legislative Session

My heart is heavy today. In the past two months, we’ve seen one cyclist death after another in Texas. Cyclists like Iris Stagner, who was a BikeTexas board member, a commuter, a racer, and a personal friend. Iris lobbied for Share the Road signs in Palo Pinto County and made a trip to the Texas legislature during the 2009 session to ask her representatives to support the Safe Passing Bill. Iris was a safe rider who obeyed traffic laws, but her life was tragically cut short in September when an inattentive driver struck her from behind. To date, the driver has faced no charges.

We all have stories like this one of a friend or loved one who did everything right but was still killed while cycling. Many Texas roads were not built with bicycles in mind, and worse, drivers are not being held accountable for killing cyclists. Like you and other cyclists across Texas, I am tired of the pain of losing friends. This fall, I’ve attended a series of grief-stricken memorial rides for fallen cyclists, but I dream of a day with no more memorial rides and no more white bikes. I want Texas to be safe for cyclists of all ages and abilities.

BikeTexas has the largest bicycle safety education program in the country, but it has become clear that we can’t educate our way out of this. We need strong, bipartisan action at the Texas legislature. We need our elected officials to join us in declaring that every cyclist or pedestrian life matters. We need to decide that allowing 400 pedestrian and 50 cyclist deaths in Texas every year is a nightmare, and it’s time to wake up.

Out-of-state highway interests don’t care about Texans’ health. They don’t care if your commute takes too long and you arrive at work already stressed. They don’t even care about reducing congestion: more congestion means they can make a case to build even more mega-highways and trap more Texans into driving everywhere they have to go. When many of our roads were built, these same highway interests insisted that there was no money for sidewalks or separated bicycle facilities. They insisted that car-only was the only way to build and they took away our mobility freedom.

My friend Iris fought for her mobility freedom and the mobility freedom of all Texans. She commuted by bicycle from Mineral Wells to Palo Pinto and back every day. Iris exercised her right to get to work as she chose, instead of letting poor infrastructure force her into a car-dependent commute. The car-centered infrastructure that is so beloved of highway interests is partly to blame for a driver knocking Iris off a highway that she had the legal right to ride on.

Now is the time for Texas to stand up and say, “No more!” It’s time to reclaim our freedom of movement and freedom of choice. It is time to demand that our legislature pass laws that will subject careless drivers to prosecution when they take cyclist or pedestrian lives.

Let’s do this for ourselves, our families, and our friends—especially for those who, like Iris, would have dearly loved to see Texans finally take our roads back.

1. Make an extra contribution towards BikeTexas’ legislative efforts. Join BikeTexas if you aren’t a member. Your membership supports BikeTexas’ efforts financially, but just as important, you become another voice demanding improved roadways in Texas. Legislators act for their constituents, and they need to know that you want them to support bicycling and Complete Streets in your district and across Texas.

2. Join our email list to receive our Action Alerts during the legislative session. Visit www.biketexas.org/email to sign up. In the heat of the session, a call or email from YOU could make a difference. Iris’ visit to the legislature in 2009 turned her senator’s “No” to a “Yes!” Never underestimate the power that constituents have in swaying elected officials. Don’t let the 2013 session go by without making sure your legislators represent you, your family, and your community.

3. Tell your family and friends about BikeTexas. Share the word about sharing the road, safety for cyclists, and saving Texas’ future. Tell others about the great work you support through your BikeTexas membership. Link to our website (www.biketexas.org), visit our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/biketexas), and follow us on Twitter (@biketexas).

Let’s take on the 2013 Legislative Session together!

Our Sponsors

Primary Sidebar

DONATE

Support access, safety, and education for all people who ride bikes in Texas.

SHOP OUR STORE

Bike lights, t-shirts, jerseys, and more.

GET OUR NEWSLETTER

Sign up today to stay informed about how bicycling is improving in Texas!

PREMIERE BUSINESS MEMBERS & SPONSORS

Support Texas Cycling

Become a Member

Individual • Business • Club/Team • Event

BikePedEd

Bike education materials for your classroom, youth organization, and more.

Shop BikeTexas Store

Bike Lights, Jerseys, License Plates, T-Shirts, and more

Order License Plates

Share your love for bikes while driving your car

Donate to the Cause

Support access, safety, and education for all people who ride bikes in Texas.

Safety & Education

SafeCyclist Training

Get certified to teach the SafeCyclist Curriculum

Educational Resources

Resources for teachers and community members

SRTS Event Handbook

Mission and Vision

MISSION BikeTexas advances bicycle access, safety, and education. We encourage and promote bicycling, increased safety, and improved conditions. We unite and inspire people and provide a cohesive voice for people who ride bikes in … Read More » about Mission and Vision

Donate to BikeTexas’ Advocacy and Education Efforts

Get Our Newsletter

Footer

PREMIERE BUSINESS MEMBERS & SPONSORS

Get Involved

  • Membership Matters
  • Volunteer
  • Best Practices
  • Be There
  • Contacting Your Representative
  • Get Involved – Identify Your Legislators
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Order Your BikeTexas Jersey

BikeTexasJersey-2012-Front
BikeTexas
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
dero dealer
BIKETEXAS | Advancing Bicycle Access, Safety, and Education | © 2023 Texas Bicycle Coalition dba BikeTexas
Website by Logical Things