Last week I wrote a short piece about a petition asking the state of Iowa to ban cyclists from all farm-to-market roads. The story has been circulated widely by now. In preparation for a follow-up, I tried to research Iowa's laws regarding petitions, but in all truthfulness, I was bewildered in my attempts to search for the relevent parts on their legislative website.
Finally, I broke with the Guy Code and asked someone. A query to the Legislative Information Office brought a reply from Mandy Easter at the State Law Library. She cheerfully informed me that Iowa does not recognize petitions from citizens as a means of introducing new legislation. Only elected legislators can introduce bills that may eventually become law. Petitions may only be used in an attempt to persuade those legislators of the public interest in a particular type of legislation. "The legislature will never abolish bicycle travel in Iowa, rest assured," she said.
In short, the web based petition may be persuasive, but it has no legal standing.
Iowa has hosted RAGBRAI for nearly forty years, and it's unlikely the state and those small towns along the route would turn their backs on the economic boost the cross-state tour offers. Think of it. A horde of cyclists descend on a small town, spend their money, and ride away the next morning. What a deal!
As I said before, the petition is a non-starter. Let's allow it to die quietly.
Comments
How about banning backwoods jackasses in pickup trucks from the roads? They're the danger, not the cyclists.
While the state may not ban bike on the farm roads, counties may be taking action in wake of law suits, such as the one in Crawford County that banned the annual summer bike ride across Iowa in 2007 over the death of a rider in 2004.
I hope it does. However, I think it would be foolish to allow the attitudes and false arguments surrounding it to go unaddressed.
Many of the people signing this and commenting on it are regular folks. They drive. They don't understand farming. They don't understand cycling.
I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope they are simply voicing frustration with a group they haven't personified. Pointing out where their desires lead (banning bicycles leads to banning other things, like farm equipment) and where their arguments are faulty (cars don't pay for roads, they just help).
The petition would probably lack meaning, other than political, in any state. It's not actually signed by the "signees." I doubt many states have laws about what makes a legal online signature for petitions.
What ever works to get bicycles off the roads.
I ride a bicycle, and I always pull over to let trucks pass; It's common sense. Farm trucks are very important to us cyclists, we burn 7000 calories a day, therefore we eat 7000 calories a day. You got a farm producing food and foodstuffs, that's great. I always work up an appetite riding my bicycle. I often stop at a farmstand and get a ten pound bag of potatoes, which I bungee to the rack on the back of my bike.
I wish other cyclists would make a distinction between "racing" and "touring". If you race a bike, you might reach the speed limit, but not for too many miles. Admit that you are touring, and don't pretend you are doing the speed limit.
I'm in Long Island,New York, and I can go a half mile at a time without cars passing. I watch my rear view mirror and I pull over to let cars pass.
I think the "protest" riders are getting the motoring public all bent out of shape.
Bob Mionske says in "Bicycling and the Law" that in order to ban cyclists from a roadway several tests must be met. The government must prove that cycling is dangerous. Yet in Iowa there were only 7 or 8 cycling deaths in 2008. Next, if the first test is met, it must show that it tried other means of mitigating the hazard, perhaps by installing bike lane, bike routes, or appropriate signage. Finally, it that doesn't work, the gov't may ban cycling.
I'll grant that there are municipalities that have done so without going through this process. But I'll go further and say that their actions are illegal. The only reason they haven't been reversed is that no one with sufficiently deep pockets has offered a legal challenge. It's not unusual for some elected officials to do something illegal, then let the taxpayers foot the bills.
If you're involved in advocacy, get a copy of Mionske's book. Read it, and you'll gain an entirely new perspective.
Can't think of a healthier way to stay in shape, have fun with your friends, and see the countryside. True, it does slow down traffic to have to go around cyclists. And sometimes the bad eggs double-up instead of single file. But no sense getting all worked up about it. Share the road. Enjoy life and don't sweat the small stuff. Be nice to each other. Life's too short...
I don't feel it should be allowed to die quietly at all. The fact that this issue has been being talked about all over is a great opprotunity to educate people about current bicycle safety laws and to promote ways to make iowas roadways safer for bicycles like more paved shoulders and bike trails that connect across iowa. To let it die quietly would be a waste of the publicity.
When I checked an hour or two ago, that petition site had gathered less than 800 signatures. That works out to roughly one quarter of one percent of the population. Granted, that percentage would increase when compared to registered voters, but then again, many of the people who 'signed' this did so anonymously.
There will always be a certain percentage of jackasses amongst the general population, and my seat-of-the-pants estimate is that 0.25 percent is about right. They'll continue being jackasses regardless of the number of wheels under the rest of us. There's no sense wasting our time on their pathetic attempts to gain legitimacy. Their claims are frivolous and utterly without merit. Don't let them bait you.
It is a shame that bicyclists are to stupid to keep themselves from harms way. Maybe the ban should be in effect so the idiots don't go out to kill themselves and ruin everyone's life that is involved. The ban is coming Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and now Missouri. Reap the whirlwind you bicyclists, IT'S COMING to a state near you.
Bob Brown is why the word "backwoods" is used in these discussions. I can't recall the last time a bike hit a car and killed the car's driver while the cyclist was uninjured. In these situations, the automobile drivers are the ones who are ruining lives, not the bicyclists.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!