A bill under consideration in the Iowa Senate would require motor vehicles to pass bicycles in an adjacent travel lane, passed a Senate Transportation Subcommittee on Wednesday. The bill now moves to the Senate Transportation Committee for consideration.

The bill addresses passing bicycles making it the same as passing other vehicles on the roadway. Cars must wait until it is safe to pass and then move to an adjacent travel lane or opposite side of the roadway before passing.

“The bicycle is not defined as a vehicle, but has all of the rights and duties of a vehicle,” says Mark Wyatt, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. “There has been confusion with law enforcement and courts on how to pass bicycles. This bill makes the procedure for passing bicycles clear.”

The current bill also recognizes bike lanes and paved shoulders as adjacent travel lanes if being used by bicyclists. Motorists would not be required to change lanes when a bicycle is using a bike lane. Motorists must still use a safe and reasonable distance to pass bicycles according to existing language in the Iowa Code.

Proponents of the bill cite 50% of fatal bicycle/motor vehicle crashes over the past decade have been overtaking crashes. The language of the bill will be easy to teach in drivers education and share the road with bicycle education is already required by the Iowa Code. The Iowa Drivers Manual has already been updated to state, “pass a bicycle like you would a car, change lanes to pass.”

In addition, a campaign has already been planned to alert drivers through radio advertising of the change lanes to pass bicycles procedure. Highway Safety Improvement Program funds have been awarded through the Iowa DOT for the radio spots.