Days after 19-year-old Kayla Vanlandingham was struck and killed while cycling across Carlisle Boulevard in July, her mother, Melinda Montoya, met with District 7 City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn to ask, “How do we make things better for others?”
That question sparked a four-month push that ended Wednesday, Nov. 5, when the Albuquerque City Council unanimously approved the first major overhaul of city traffic laws since 1974.
“If this code existed in its current form, I truly believe Kayla would still be with me today,” Montoya said at the meeting. “I also believe that we would have a better driving culture and we wouldn’t be leading the nation as having the worst drivers and the most pedestrian and vulnerable road user deaths.”
New Mexico has ranked first nationally for pedestrian fatality rates for eight consecutive years.
The new law, O-25-98 sponsored by Fiebelkorn, adds protections for “vulnerable road users” — pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users, and people on scooters, skateboards and e-bikes. Drivers must now stop, not just yield, for them at crosswalks, and can’t pass cars already stopped there. Parking is banned within 50 feet of crosswalks unless marked otherwise, and all speed camera revenue must go toward Vision Zero safety projects.
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Drivers beware: City’s new traffic code gives bikes, pedestrians more safe space
This week, Albuquerque’s City Council passed the first major bicycle and pedestrian safety updates to the city’s traffic safety code since 1974. The change came after an Albuquerque mother…
The vote came two weeks after the council delayed action on the ordinance following pushback from advocates over a rule that would have banned crossing at unmarked intersections near traffic lights. The final version dropped that language after Fiebelkorn promised to “find answers” to their concerns.
Vanlandingham worked at the Esperanza Bicycle Safety Education Center and was the third employee there killed in a cycling crash since 2023. The driver who hit her wasn’t charged because the law didn’t require stopping at flashing yellow lights.
The ordinance takes effect five days after publication. A companion resolution, R-25-196, directs the city to launch a public education campaign within 180 days, with materials shared through driver education programs and Albuquerque Public Schools.
“We have to make sure people understand what’s expected of them,” Fiebelkorn said.