Bike safety bill likely dead this year, lawmaker says

[This could easily have been written about here as well.]
By JENNIFER JACOBS
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Des Moines police say the driver was clearly at fault, but no traffic ticket was issued.
It’s cases like this that trouble cycling advocates. They’re pushing for state legislation that would offer bicyclists more protection – and heavier penalties for drivers who break the law.

But the new legislation likely won’t become law this year, a key Democrat said today.

The bill, Senate File 117, passed the Iowa Senate last month, but probably won’t pass the House in the few remaining weeks of the session, said Rep. Brian Quirk, D-New Hampton.

That’s frustrating to Iowans like Sherman, a 48-year-old software developer who has been riding competitively since 1986.

“I understand they’ve got big fish to fry with the budget, but this costs nothing,” Sherman said. “I can’t see how they’re going to be voted out of office because they voted for safety. What these guys are cowering at I don’t know.”

Quirk said he doesn’t oppose the bill, but one sticking point is that the it would prohibit a driver from depriving a bicycle of the full use of a lane if the lane isn’t wide enough for them to share

“You have liability issues when you give a bicyclist full lane privileges,” he said.

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“People don’t understand,” said Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, a key backer of the bill. “They’re saying, ‘Don’t let them bike on the roads!’ I’ve got news for them. They already have the right to the road. We’re just trying to make it safer so somebody doesn’t get killed.”

“The bill is not about special rights for bicyclists,” the Iowa Bicycle Coalition’s Mark Wyatt said. “Rather it clarifies that cyclists have the same protection as vehicles in the Iowa Code.”
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<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090323/NEWS/90323020/-1/NEWS04">http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090323/NEWS/90323020/-1/NEWS04</a>;