Please contact your representative and ask them to:
- Press House leadership for an immediate floor vote.
- Support passage of HB 4334, tie-barred with SB 217.
Why this matters
This bipartisan, bicameral legislation closes a gap in Michigan law. Right now, prosecutors face a bad choice: charges that are too light, or charges that are too severe. This bill gives them a proportionate option.
The bill protects vulnerable roadway users — including people who walk, bike, ride horses, or use wheelchairs. These road users carry traffic risk without the protection of a steel frame, just like road workers or farmers on tractors.
A six-year effort
LMB and its partners have pushed this legislation since 2023. Sen. McCann, Sen. Klinefelt, Rep. Rogers, and Rep. Schuette introduced the original bills — SB 617, SB 618, HB 5223, and HB 5224 — that October. Both chambers passed them with strong bipartisan votes in 2023. But the legislation stalled in 2024, missing a final reading before recess.
Rep. Rogers reintroduced the bill as HB 4334. SB 217 was subbed in as its Senate companion, tie-barred so both become law together. The bill keeps the same protections as the original package. Yesterday, HB 4334 passed House Judiciary Committee. It's now ready for a floor vote — the last step before it can become law.
What the law does
Twelve states already have VRU laws on the books. Michigan law currently makes it a felony — up to 15 years in prison and/or a $7,500 fine — to cause a death through a moving violation against someone operating "an implement of husbandry" (farm equipment). This bill extends that same protection, with a 10-year maximum, to all vulnerable roadway users. It also creates a new felony — up to 5 years and/or a $5,000 fine — for causing serious injury (inpatient hospital or rehab care) to a vulnerable roadway user.
Today, many Michigan drivers who kill a cyclist face only a misdemeanor. As former LMB board member Bryan Waldman wrote in 2017, "given the current state of Michigan law, when a motorist injures or kills a bicyclist, the prosecutor is left with an almost impossible decision regarding the appropriate charge for the crime and it is damn near impossible to obtain a meaningful conviction."
Michigan already protects road workers and police officers with enhanced penalties. This bill extends that same principle to everyone who bikes or walks. Please ask your representative to support it — and to push for a floor vote now.
NOTES
"12 states – Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington – have VRU laws that define a set of road users as vulnerable and provide specific processes and penalties for actions directed at those users." Source: https://bikeleague.org/bike-laws/model-legislation/model-vulnerable-user-law/
"Vulnerable roadway user" is defined as a pedestrian; a person using roller skates, inline skates, a nonmotorized scooter, a nonmotorized skateboard, or a wheelchair; a person riding a horse (or other equine, such as a donkey or mule) or driving or riding a carriage; or a person on a bicycle, electric bicycle, electric skateboard, or electric personal assistive mobility device. The Senate bill also added U.S. Postal Service workers.
