[LabRat]

This was in my inbox this morning from the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. (bolding mine) GRRRRRR!!!! Please read the first link, it is very interesting. Although the report was for the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, it's still something to think about.

I will be investigating this further, and will post subsequent commentary in the bicycling thread.

Today, Senator Putney has filed SF2006. This bill requires all persons who operate or ride a bicycle on a primary or secondary road to have a bicyclist's license. A nonresident bicyclist is not required to obtain a license. A license is not required to ride on a municipal street or designated bicycle path. A license is also not required to ride a bicycle while participating in a race or event of more than 30 participants where one of the primary activities is riding a bicycle. A person who violates the new requirement is guilty of a simple misdemeanor and must pay a scheduled fine of $10.

At a time when we should be encouraging more bicycling, the legislature is proposing another barrier. What is most troublesome is as many as 250,000 cyclists will just hang up their bikes - adding to traffic congestion, air pollution, and more damage to our roads. On the surface, it seems like a means to generate revenue, but if you take a look at http://www.vtpi.org/whoserd.pdf you may think differently. No other state in the US requires a license to drive a bicycle.

Do we really need to ask our third graders to cough up $10 so they can ride their bikes to school rather than suffer from obesity related health issues?

What can you do? 1. Join the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. 2. Come to the Bicyclists Day on the Hill on Thursday. 3. Attend Bike Night on Saturday at the Capitol Room in Des Moines. 4. Come to the Iowa Bicycle Summit on Friday or Saturday or both days. More on this and more at http://www.iowabicyclecoalition.org