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Iowa motorists caught driving too closely to bicyclists —
or throwing things at them — could face big fines and
possibly lose their driver’s license temporarily under
legislation pending at the statehouse. Bicycle enthusiasts
are pressing for new protections after an increasing
number of fatalities involving bicyclists, but opponents
argue cyclists themselves are sometimes to blame and any
new law would be hard to enforce.
Representative Sharon Steckman, a Democrat from Mason
City, has been working to find a compromise on the
issue. “Iowa is a bicycle-friendly state,” she says. ” We
have the largest organized ride in the country that I know
of — RAGBRAI. It’s huge and it encourages good, healthy
living and I think this is really a modest start in what
we need to do to let people know that bicycles do have a
right to be on the road.”
A so-called “Bicyclists Bill of Rights” passed the Iowa
Senate in February of last year, but never passed the
House. The bill requires that vehicles maintain a five-
foot distance when passing a bicyclist. But Representative
Clel Baudler, a Republican from Greenfield, says that’s
not always possible on narrow county blacktops.
“Is a vehicle passing a bicycle five feet away too close?
If I was on the bicycle I would say, ‘Yes, it’s too
close,’” Baudler says. “If I’m in the car or the motor
vehicle, I can’t go over any farther without going off the
road because some of these county blacktops have a
shoulder of maybe 18 inches — if it’s not a drop-off.”
Baudler, who is a retired state trooper, says if the
legislature really wants to save lives, the bill should
require cyclists to wear reflective clothing. “(With) deer
hunting in Iowa, we had fatalities, we had injuries. When
the legislature required ‘hunter orange’ from the waist up
basically, our fatalities (and) our injuries plummeted,”
Baulder says.
“So I suggest that these bicyclists have to be readily
identified i.e. fifty percent of their jersey would have
to be hunter orange or school bus yellow.” Bicycle safety
advocates say there have been 27 fatal accidents in Iowa
over the past four years.
The bill establishes a $250 fine for some of the car
versus bicycle infractions. Critics like Baudler says
that’s too high when the fine for running a stoplight, for
example, is only 35 dollars. Elizabeth Baird of the Iowa
Department of Transportation says legislators have set
penalties for certain kinds of infractions higher, to send
a message.
“One area several years ago…a $1,000 maximum fine for
speeding in a work zone. There have been increased fines
for passing a school bus,” Baird says. “So there’s a
number of places in (state law) where (the legislature)
has gone outside to make a specific statement. We agree
this is a place to make that statement.”
Under the proposed legislation, if a cyclist is seriously
injured because of unsafe passing or tailgating, the
motorist would face a five-hundred dollar fine and a 90-
day license suspension. If the cyclist is killed, the
driver would face a $1,000 fine and 180 day suspension.
Jim Obradovich, a lobbyist for the Iowa bicycle coalition,
is urging lawmakers not to get hung up on the numbers.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s $200, $500, $1000 — that’s not
going to bring back any those bicyclists who were killed
on our roads,” Obradovich says. “What we do need is some
sort of deterrent, some sort of strong message out of this
building across the countryside to be more vigilant, to
share the road and that’s what’s really important. That’s
why we support this.”
A Bicyclist’s Bill of Rights passed the Iowa Senate last
year on a 30 to 17 vote. The bill would have given
bicyclists the right-of-way when a bike trail intersects
with a street. It also would have penalized those found
guilty of opening a car door into oncoming bicycle traffic
and causing an accident.
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(624 views)
Source: http://www.radioiowa.com/2010/02/12/bicycle-safety-debated-again-in-the-legislature/
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