Sylvia Perry uses her cell phone while driving in Salem, Ore. You can get slapped with a $142 fine if you use a hand-held cell phone while driving in Oregon — and, as of Jan. 1, 2012, don’t count on the “business call” loophole to get you off the hook.As far as I know, the Fuzz didn’t catch a single Oregon lawmaker speeding away from Salem on Thursday.   But there’s no doubt that legislators fled the capital as if the zombie apocalypse had come. With the session adjourned, no one was picking up the phones.   Shoot! And I was hoping for a few parting words on the fate of bills that could have affected how we get around.   Sen. Bruce Starr? You out there? The electric-vehicle road-usage fee, or “EV tax,” looked like a sure thing. What happened?   Hello? Sen. Ginny Burdick? Any plans to revive that failed bill to ban people from driving around with pets sitting on their laps?   Portland Rep. Mitch Greenlick was the only legislator from a long list to call back. He was in his car, headed north on I-5 (his wife was driving). Frankly, he doesn’t like talking about the defeat of his proposed ban on kids younger than 6 from riding in bike trailers and the back of popular “longtail” cargo bikes.   Prompted by an OHSU hospital study on the frequency of injury bike crashes, Greenlick said he was looking out for bike commuters’ children. But he quickly discovered that pitching a new bike regulation in the Pedal Republic of Oregon “is like talking about water fluoridation.” Such an outcry, Greenlick said.   “I concluded that people don’t care if kids are safe or not.”   I don’t know about that. But it’s safe to say Fido and Bike Moms were winners in the 2011 session. Some other commuting winners and losers:   Winners   Electric car owners: They’re multiplying and using state roads like they still pay gas taxes which they don’t. A proposed usage fee of 1.43 cents per mile, also applying to plug-in hybrids, ran out of juice. Word is the state is looking at a flat, easy-to-collect annual fee instead.   Pedestrians: Motorists, get ready to brake. The Legislature finally clarified when a person is legally crossing the street “when any part or extension” of a pedestrian’s body, wheelchair, cane, crutch, bicycle or leashed animal enters the roadway.   Antsy drivers at flashing yellow arrows: Lawmakers say it’s now OK to roll into the intersection while waiting for oncoming traffic to clear at the ubiquitous left-turn signals. “Cautiously.”

Losers

Youth Pass: As a result of tax-credit cuts, the free ride on public transit for Portland, Eugene and Salem high school students is over.   People who hate carved up highways: (Isn’t that everyone?) The latest proposal to ban studded tires which cause $40 million in damage to state roads annually stalled early. Tire retailer Les Schwab’s lobbyists and lawyers are already challenging the wording of a 2012-targeted ballot measure.   Drunk drivers’ pocketbooks: First-time offenders, meet the “ignition interlock device.” The in-car gizmo will be mandatory, costing up to $200 to install and $100 a month to rent. If its breathalyzer detects alcohol, the auto won’t start. Good.   Cellphone-addicted drivers: Drivers caught yakking on handheld cell phones can no longer take advantage of a loophole letting them declare “business call” immunity. New revisionsmake exceptions only for police, emergency vehicles, tow trucks, utility crews and farm vehicles.

Again, good.
 
   

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