AUSTIN — Texas cyclists have turned their wrath toward Gov. Rick Perry into a petition drive asking voters to keep him in mind during the election — and not in a good way.

They want Perry to pay for his veto of a bill promoting safety for cyclists and others categorized as “vulnerable road users.”

Perry's veto last month was particularly puzzling because there was no formal opposition to SB 488, which passed the House 142-0 and 26-5 in the Senate.

Also, roughly 94 percent of more than 1,000 phone calls, e-mails and letters to Perry's office supported the measure.

“There has been an overwhelming community roar from Democrats and Republicans that used to call themselves Perry supporters,” said Leslie Luciano, who filed an open records request with Perry's office to obtain the correspondence.

“He underestimated the power of this community at a time when he should be grabbing any support he can as he heads to a close primary race,” said Luciano, community relations manager and advocacy coordinator for Austin's largest bicycle shop.

Perry faces U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, in the GOP gubernatorial primary next year.

Perry's office defends the veto, contending that protections in the proposed bill were unnecessary.

“Operators of a motor vehicle are already subject to penalties when he or she is at fault for causing a collision or operating recklessly, whether it is against a ‘vulnerable user' or not,” Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle said.

Nearly 3,000 Texans have signed the petition.

The bill would have required motorists to give cyclists and others, including pedestrians, runners, motorcyclists, construction and maintenance workers, at least 3 feet clearance when they pass.

Drivers of commercial vehicles would have had to stay at least 6 feet away. Violators could have faced a fine of $500 or a Class B misdemeanor in the case of injury.
Bipartisan support

Some Texans who encouraged Perry to veto the bill complained it would be impractical on two-lane roads. The bill applied only to roads with at least two lanes in the same direction.

SB 488 was written by two Republican prosecutors and had the support of law enforcement, Stallings said. The bill also had bipartisan support with Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, carrying in the House and Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston in the Senate.

“This bill had wide popular support and very little opposition,” Ellis said. “Simply put, there was no good reason to oppose it, and the governor made a mistake in vetoing it. ”

Cyclists plan to collect more than 10,000 petition signatures and would call it off only with some dramatic gesture on Perry's part.

“He would have to sit down and talk to us and come up with an actionable vision for bicycling — something that we should do and improve and make Texas a better place, a more inviting place, a safer place for cyclists,” said Robin Stallings, executive director of Bike Texas, an advocacy group that promotes bicycle access, safety and education.
Veto encouraged

Some Texans wanted Perry to veto the measure.

“You will have radical bikers taking license numbers of cars and reporting them because they thought they passed too close,” Kenneth Bain of Duncanville wrote Perry. “If you sign this bill you are letting a small minority rule the voting masses and it will not sit well at election time.”

Herman May of Garland told Perry in an e-mail: “Ignore the din of the uninformed masses. Stay the course and veto this bill knowing you have the support of lawful, competent vehicular cyclists.”

I agree with the Gov on this one... How can you safely keep 3 or 6 feet away from a cyclist on a public road?? How about cracking down on the behavior of the people riding down the road******************************??

I was not aware of this bill and I'm am SO GLAD he vetoed it. It would have been complete crap. I can't count the number of bicyclists who ride down the middle of their lane (quite PROPERLY I would add) as the "vehicles" they are, and then roll through the red lights because "they're not really vehicles after all." Like most liberals, they want more than their share of rights, and few if any responsibilities.

i like how cyclist want all these rights, specially when there is a side walk and there riding in the middle of the F#### street.........get a car or stop *****in!