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State Transportation Committee Considering Bike Safety Bills

BOSTON (CBS) -- State Senator William Brownsberger knows a thing or two about cycling -- he bikes to work from his home in Belmont every day.

"I worry about it all the time," said Brownsberger, talking about bicycle safety. "You do the best you can, but you're still at risk, so it's something that, yeah, I'm concerned about."

That's why he is sponsoring a number of bike safety bills -- like requiring large trucks to have several mirrors, and to install side guards on the trucks to protect cyclists from getting swept under the wheels -- something that has happened a number of times, including a collision last summer that killed a Swiss researcher.

"If you ride along on your bicycle on the road, you'll see some trucks where you could just about ride underneath those trucks," said Brownsberger. "This [bill] would require those kinds of trucks to have a side guard so that if a cyclist did broadside the truck, they would be deflected instead of ending up getting run over by the wheels."

At least four bills the state's transportation committee is taking up Wednesday will have to do with bikes and bicycle safety. The other bills include one covering bike paths and crosswalks, one on how much clearance cars are required to give bikes, and one on parking in bike lanes.

"More people are biking, so we want to try to keep them safer if we can," said Brownsberger.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports

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