At this hour, the legislature's Joint House-Senate Transportation Oversight Committee is deciding which transportation bills it will push in the legislative session that starts this week. One of them would tell bicycle riders not to travel more than two abreast, and it would have them go single file when cars want to get past them.

And as we speak, two-wheelers and four-wheelers are mixing it up in a parallel online debate (see today's Road Worrier column with lots of reader comment) about the bike bill.  

You can find the text of that draft legislation below (the one whose filename ends in 27) along with draft bills that would tackle predatory towing (... 26) and give the Turnpike Authority more power to collect those electronic tolls in the not-too-distant future (... 30).

Documents:

I'm writing about one proposed bill that could change relations between motorists and bicyclists in North Carolina, and about a second bill that would put new limits on towing operators that remove cars from private parking lots.

If you've had experience with either of these issues, I'd like to hear from you. Please e-mail me and let me know how I can contact you. [See updates, added 5/10/10, below.]

1) With NCDOT reminding North Carolinians during Bicycle Safety Month that "bicyclists share the same rights and responsibilities as other drivers," legislators are considering a proposal to put new restrictions on groups of bike riders when they share the highways with car drivers. ... [MORE]

Two children died after they were thrown from their car in a Durham railroad crossing crash on Dec. 9, and witnesses said they had not been wearing seat belts. Another child was thrown from his car and killed in a car-train crash in Efland.

Now the Highway Patrol says 6-year-old Taryn Greise was not using a booster seat or seat belt when her family's SUV overturned on I-95 on Christmas Day, killing her.

This terrible news makes this a good time for reminders about what the law says, and what safety experts say, about child passenger safety. (See today's Road Worrier column, with reader comments.)

North Carolina law requires drivers to make sure that all children less than 16 years old – in front seat and back seat – are buckled up. The law sets minimum standards, with generic requirements that do not specify products or devices.

Experts at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center recommend higher levels of protection. They provide detailed guidance and links to local resources at www.buckleupnc.org.

What the law says: ... [MORE]