Bike Safety Bill 012019
A bike safety bill that would have required riders to add a back light to their bicycles has stalled in the state senate. Siouxland Public Media’s Mary Hartnett has more.
BikeBill80586
:51
Currently, Iowa law requires bike riders to have a light on the front of a bicycle and a reflector on the back after dark. The Senate measure would have required bikes to have lights on the back as well. Concerns about bike safety spiked after a nighttime accident between a motorcycle and three bike riders on a county road in Northwest Iowa’s Lyon County. Mark Wyatt of the Iowa Bicycle Association says busy roads and dark country roads have different safety issues than neighborhood streets.
:09
“If you had a headlight and reflector, and you didn’t have a light, that’s maybe a different situation than if you are on a rural road, with higher speed traffic.”
Wyatt and lawmakers says they are still concerned about safety. Eleven people lost their lives in fatal bicycle crashes in Iowa during 2016, according to the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. For Siouxland Public Media, I’m Mary Hartnett.
