Just before the Oregon Senate voted Tuesday in favor of a bill that will regulate where, when and why we can use cell phones on the road, Senator Jackie Dingfelder (D-Portland) received a message on her iPhone. Dingfelder supported the bill, so when her husband read the BTA blog post about Andrey Yarbrough, a Bend cyclist who was seriously injured in a crash earlier this month, he shot her a quick message with a link to the article.

The BTA took no official position on HB 2377, but we referenced it in last week's post because the driver involved in the crash told investigators that he was distracted by his cell phone when he drifted into the bike lane and struck Yarbrough. Dingfelder included the story in her floor speech just before voting for the bill, and her husband forwarded the message to us later that afternoon.

It seems like a good moment to reflect on the role of mobile communication technology in our experiences as cyclists and roadway users, and to remember that the cycling community has a large network of friends and foes tuning into our blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook status updates.

You can listen to an archived audio file of Tuesday's Senate Chamber session below. Skip ahead to minute 52:00 to hear Sen. Ginny Burdick's entertaining introduction to the bill; Sen. Dingfelder speaks at minute 57:00.

http://www.leg.state.or.us/listn/archive/archive.2009s/SENATE-200906231259.ram

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.