Bill Dooley ’92 (submitted photo)
A Mitchell Hamline alum who was a well-known advocate for bicycle safety was honored at the Minnesota Capitol last week, where a piece of legislation named for him was heard in a legislative committee.
The Bill Dooley Bicycle Safety Act would require schools to teach bicycle safety and allocate more than $30 million for two programs related to bicycles in the state. Rules for bicyclists would also be updated, including allowing riders to continue through a stop, after slowing, if the intersection is clear – a move sometimes referred to as an “Idaho stop.” There would also be a clarification that riders be as far to the right on a roadway as they deem safe, instead of being as far right as possible, as is currently stated in the law.
Dorian Grilley, who runs the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, told legislators that Dooley was the “hub around which all things bicycle and bicycle safety revolved.”
Dooley, a 1992 graduate of William Mitchell College of Law, died of cancer in late December at age 73. His wife Susan told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that her husband “regarded cycling as superior transportation that didn’t harm the planet and could be good for riders’ health, in particular for the Black community.” Dooley came to William Mitchell mid-career; he worked in the insurance industry and as a lobbyist before retiring to focus on near-and-dear causes, including bike safety.
The package of proposals bearing his name was laid over, which means it is eligible to be included in a larger omnibus bill at the end of the Minnesota Legislature’s session.
Further reading
William ‘Bill’ Dooley Jr., bike safety advocate, dies at 73 (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Package of proposed bike safety measures would honor longtime advocate (Minnesota House of Representatives)
Minnesota bill with ‘Idaho stop,’ bike safety efforts named for the late cycling and transit advocate Bill Dooley (MinnPost)
Read a summary from the Minnesota House of the legislation, HF677