A unified cycling community is what gives LMB standing to ADVOCATE. Michigan’s roads, laws, and infrastructure haven’t caught up to how many of us ride. That’s what LMB’s advocacy work exists to fix. Below are the issues we’re working on at the Capitol right now, and how you can help.
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Justice for Vulnerable Roadway Users
Michigan law sets no specific penalty for a driver who seriously injures or kills someone on a bike. HB 4334 and HB 4335 would close that gap. The bills create a felony for causing serious injury to a vulnerable roadway user — cyclists, pedestrians, wheelchair users and equestrians — and extend protections that already cover farm equipment to everyone else on the road. Both are in the final push to move out of committee.
E-Moto Legislation (Protecting E-Bike Access)
Michigan’s 2017 law sorted e-bikes into three clear classes and kept them out of the motor vehicle category. That law works. But high-powered machines built like motorcycles are now being marketed as e-bikes, which sidesteps the safety and equipment standards real e-bikes meet. Michigan needs to define these vehicles accurately and hold manufacturers to honest advertising — LMB is actively working to get a bill introduced that would do this.
Stop As Yield
Stop-as-yield lets a cyclist treat a stop sign as a yield sign when the way is clear. The research is consistent: it’s safe, and it reduces crashes at intersections. A rider who keeps momentum spends less time in the intersection, which is where most collisions happen. A growing number of states have already passed it. Michigan should join them.
Bike Lane Parking
A car parked in a bike lane forces the rider out into traffic. That’s the whole problem. Michigan needs clearer rules and real enforcement, so that a bike lane stays a bike lane.
Dooring
An opened car door puts a rider on the ground in front of whatever comes next. Michigan’s dooring protections sit in the Uniform Traffic Code, which means they only apply where a community has adopted it. Moving them into the Michigan Compiled Laws would protect riders everywhere in the state — not just in the towns that opted in.
Trail Land Tax Abatement
This proposal would create a property tax break for landowners who carry a public trail across their land. No land purchase, no large public outlay — just more trail under your tires.
Say No to a Federal Funding Freeze on Bike Lanes
Federal funding for bike lanes is at risk of a freeze, and Michigan communities spent years competing for that money. Approved projects could die outright, and work already underway could stop where it stands. The Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill that could reduce or eliminate funds for bicycling infrastructure is still being debated, there is time to have your voice heard.