House File 586 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 586 BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION (SUCCESSOR TO HF 214) A BILL FOR An Act relating to bicyclists right-of-way at certain 1 crosswalks, and making penalties applicable. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1783HV (1) 90 th/ns
H.F. 586 Section 1. Section 321.327, subsection 1, Code 2023, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 1. Where traffic-control signals are not in place 3 or in operation , the driver of a vehicle shall yield the 4 right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, 5 to a pedestrian or a person riding a bicycle crossing the 6 roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked 7 crosswalk at an intersection, except as otherwise provided in 8 this chapter . 9 EXPLANATION 10 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 11 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 12 Under current law, a person riding a bicycle (bicyclist) 13 on a highway is subject to the provisions of Code chapter 321 14 (motor vehicles and law of the road) and has all the rights and 15 duties applicable to a driver, except those provisions which 16 by their nature have no application and those provisions for 17 which specific exceptions have been set forth regarding police 18 bicycles (Code section 321.234). In addition, current law 19 penalizes certain actions against bicyclists, such as steering 20 a vehicle unreasonably close to the bicyclist or projecting an 21 object at the bicyclist (Code section 321.281). 22 This bill requires a driver to yield the right-of-way to a 23 bicyclist crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk, 24 or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, in 25 the same manner required when yielding to pedestrians where 26 traffic-control signals are not in place or in operation. 27 A violation of the bill is a simple misdemeanor punishable by 28 a $135 scheduled fine. By operation of law, if the violation 29 causes a serious injury, a court could impose an additional 30 fine of $500 or suspend the persons drivers license for not 31 more than 90 days, or both. If the violation causes a death, a 32 court could impose an additional fine of $1,000 or suspend the 33 persons drivers license for not more than 180 days, or both 34 (Code section 321.482A). 35 -1- LSB 1783HV (1) 90 th/ns 1/ 1