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Senate committee approves bill letting cyclists ride across crosswalks after removing speed language
Summary
The Senate Transportation Committee advanced HB 1702 to allow bicyclists to remain mounted while crossing crosswalks, but senators removed a contested speed-restriction clause; sponsors said the change is intended to improve safety for trail users and support cycling-related tourism.
Representative Tippie McCullough, sponsor of House Bill 17 o 2, told the Senate Transportation Committee the bill would change Arkansas practice so cyclists may ride across crosswalks rather than dismounting. "What this bill does ... is allow you to ride your bike across that crosswalk and have the same rights as anybody in a crosswalk here in Arkansas as a pedestrian," McCullough said during her presentation.
The bill preserves duties for people operating bicycles to yield to pedestrians and to give an audible signal when passing. McCullough emphasized the provision is aimed primarily at trail users who exit trail segments and must cross roadways. "Cycling is so important right now to the state," she said, linking safer crossings to tourism and local economic development.
Committee members focused on a short section of the draft that used a "reasonable and prudent" speed standard. Senator Garner said the undefined speed phrase risked arbitrary enforcement: "Shouldn't it be a defined standard if we're gonna be setting speed restrictions?" Several senators agreed the crosswalk-rights section was acceptable but that the speed-language expanded the bill in ways they were not comfortable approving in statute.
Senator Tucker offered a narrowly targeted amendment to strike the contested lines (page 2, lines 6–10) so the bill would keep the crosswalk riding provision while removing the speed restriction. The committee adopted that amendment by voice vote, and then voted to advance the bill. Representative McCullough told the committee she was willing to return with refined language if the sponsors wanted an explicit speed standard later.
The committee's action was procedural: it approved the amended bill for further consideration rather than enacting a final law. The change retains cyclist duties to "yield the right of way to pedestrians" and to use an audible signal when passing, while removing the vague speed-language that had drawn opposition.
The next procedural step for HB 1702 is for the sponsor to carry the amended bill to the full Senate floor for consideration.
