Timothy Meinch

tmeinch@dmreg.com

© COPYRIGHT 2016, DES MOINES REGISTER AND TRIBUNE COMPANY

A majority of Iowans say drivers should be required to fully change lanes when passing a bicyclist on roads, according to a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll.

Sixty-seven percent of Iowans polled said they support the so-called safe-passing requirement approved by the Iowa Senate last month. The bill faces an uncertain future in the House.

The measure received support in urban and rural areas, with 67 percent of city dwellers and 64 percent of rural residents saying it was a good idea.

“I live in the country, and I follow bikes all the time. I think it would be a good rule,” said poll respondent Jeni Rochholz, 34, who lives in rural Scott County.

The Senate measure, which passed 38-12, would require motorists overtaking a bicyclist traveling in the same direction to pass in an adjacent lane or on the opposite side of the road. The driver would be prohibited from returning to the right side of the road until safely clearing the cyclist.

It would not apply when cyclists are riding on a paved shoulder or within a designated bike lane. Violations would carry a $100 fine.

The Senate measure would reinforce an existing Iowa statute that gives bicycles equal rights as motor vehicles on Iowa roadways. About 30 states have passed safe-passing rules to protect cyclists.

Advocates and some opponents agree that it could foster more welcoming roads for cyclists. But they clash over the primary purpose of roads and whether cyclists should be encouraged to ride on them.

State Rep. Brian Moore, R-Bellevue, who works as a farmer and truck driver, sits on the House Transportation Committee. As chairman of the subcommittee that would hear the bill, Moore will determine whether it moves forward. So far, he's undecided.

“Priority is toward economics, not primarily for recreation,” Moore said Wednesday. “At this point, I’ve got to consider the farmer, the commercial people who use the road.”

The Iowa Bicycle Coalition has been one of the leading proponents of the bill. The cycling advocacy group says this year's bill is an improvement from previous House or Senate proposals that aimed to establish a 3- or 5-foot passing rule.

“We think it’s easy to enforce, it’s easy to follow, it’s easy to teach, and that’s the important part,” said Mark Wyatt, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition.

Wyatt said requiring vehicles to move over one lane is key. Existing law simply restricts vehicles from passing “unreasonably close” to cyclists.

MORE ON BIKING IN CENTRAL IOWA:

A database curated by the Iowa Bicycle Coalition shows that half of Iowa’s fatal bike crashes in the past decade involved a vehicle overtaking a cyclist from behind. From 2005 to 2014, 53 bicyclists were killed on Iowa roads.

Moore said many supporters of the bill who contact him have referenced the names of cyclists killed on roads. But he questions why cyclists are using roads rather than designated bike paths and trails.

“If they weren’t riding on the high-speed highways — with 55 mph speed limits and so forth and not on the paths — that probably wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

Rochholz, who supported the law in the poll, said she already switches lanes to pass cyclists. She compared it to merging in and out of the fast lane on an interstate.

“It’s definitely worth it — for our kids, if nothing else,” said Roccholz, who works as a technician for air conditioning and heating systems.

Poll data showed that the majority of Republicans (57 percent) and Democrats (73 percent) support the idea. It saw greater backing from women (74 percent) than men (60 percent), and from poll participants in the lowest income bracket, with 78 percent support from those making less than $30,000 a year.

The poll was conducted by Selzer & Co., which surveyed 804 Iowa adults Feb. 21-24. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Alicia Davis, a 42-year-old mother and student, said the state should promote biking as a safe transportation alternative that benefits the environment and personal health.

“If they’re going to be on the roadways like any other driver, then there needs to be laws that protect them,” Davis said.

Bill Rouse, a 42-year-old truck driver from Guthrie Center, opposes the change in state law. He said it would encourage more cyclists to use Iowa's roads.

“I personally think it’s a hazard for them and other vehicles,” he said.

Rouse said he regularly drives county roads and highways along the Raccoon River Valley Trail.

“I am for bicycles. I have no problem with that," Rouse said. "But I don’t think they should be on our roadways.”

With or without the new law, the Iowa Department of Transportation plans to roll out a first-of-its-kind advertising campaign this year that encourages motorists to switch lanes when passing cyclists.

“Most people think that since a bicycle is smaller, that they don’t have to take the other lane,” said Milly Ortiz, the DOT's bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. “With this new legislation, it will make it more clear to everybody.”

ABOUT THE POLL

The Iowa Poll, conducted Feb. 21-24 for The Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 804 Iowans ages 18 or older. Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted households with randomly selected landline and cell

Questions based on the sample of 804 Iowa adults have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20 the findings would not vary from the percentages shown here by more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents — such as by gender or age — have a larger margin of error.

Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to The Des Moines Register and Mediacom is prohibited.