House Bill 1215 Re-Referred to Courts January 29, 2014 House Bill 1215 was re-referred to the Courts of Justice Committee and sent to the Criminal Law Sub-Committee. The good news is that Delegate Rob Bell, who is carrying the bill, is the chairman of that sub-committee and the vice-chair of the full committee. The Criminal Law Sub-Committee meets Monday and Wednesday afternoon ½ hour after adjournment of the House Session. It is not on the docket for today so the earliest that it will be heard is Monday. That gives us time to get emails out to members of the sub-committee, and then members of the full committee. Let’s re-cap this bill. This bill makes it reckless driving when a person kills or seriously injures another person during the commission of most right of way violations. Under current law a person who kills another or causes a serious injury faces a charge of failure to yield the right of way which carries only a fine. HB 1215 not only gives the court the power to impose jail or suspend a license if appropriate, it forces the charged party to appear in court to answer for the charges rather than simply pre-pay the ticket. You can read the full text at: lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?141+ful+HB1215 When emailing legislators, there are several important aspects of this bill that should be shared. The bill does not carry a mandatory punishment but instead gives the court additional tools to fashion an appropriate punishment for someone who kills or seriously injures another on the highways. The bill forces someone who kills or seriously injures another on the highway to appear in court to answer charges rather than simply pre-pay a fine. The bill still allows the court to convict for the lesser included offense of improper driving when the court feels that the facts justify such a finding. If you have any questions or comments concerning this bill, please feel free to contact me. The email addresses for each member of the Courts of Justice Criminal Law Sub-Committee, as well as the full Courts of Justice Committee is listed below. You can also link directly to the committee members at the following link: lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?141+com+H08 If you email Delegate Bell, please do not request that he support the bill as he is carrying the bill. Simply thank him for carrying this bill for motorcyclists. Thanks in advance for all of your help in passing this bill. Sub-Committee Members Delegate Bell - [email protected] Delegate Albo (chairman of the full committee) - [email protected] Delegate Cline - [email protected] Delegate Gilbert - [email protected] Delegate Miller - [email protected] Delegate Villanueva - [email protected] Delegate Morris - [email protected] Delegate Adams - [email protected] Delegate Watts - [email protected] Delegate Herring - [email protected] Delegate Mason - [email protected] Remainder of the Full Committee Delegate Kilgore - [email protected] Delegate Loupassi - [email protected] Delegate Habeeb - [email protected] Delegate Minchew - [email protected] Delegate Leftwich - [email protected] Delegate Chafin - [email protected] Delegate Campbell - [email protected] Delegate Toscano - [email protected] Delegate McClellan - [email protected] Delegate Hope - [email protected] Delegate Keam - [email protected] Matt Danielson McGrath & Danielson Tom McGraths Motorcycle Law Group 1-800-321-8968 Motorcyclelawgroup
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 14:35:55 +0000