Two provisions of bicycle safety bill won votes in Iowa House and Senate committees in February but were not allowed to be debated on the House floor. However, those two items did pass thanks to their inclusion in the standing appropriations bill. The two provisions in the bill, according to the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, prohibit motorists from operating a vehicle too close to a bicyclist or throwing items at a bicyclist or face a $250 fine.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s $200, $500, $1,000 – that’s not going to bring back any of those bicyclists who were killed on our roads,” said Jim Obradovich, a lobbyist for the coalition, according to radioiowa.com. “What we do need is some sort of deterrent, some sort of strong message out of this building across the countryside to be more vigilant, to share the road and that’s what’s really important.”

Provisions that won Senate approval on a 30-17 vote last year did not survive the 2010 legislative session. The earlier bill would have given bicyclists the right of way where bike trails and streets intersect, and would have penalized motorists for opening a door in the path of a cyclist and causing injury, according to radioiowa.com

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