|
By Kim M. West
Des Moines Attorney/The Mostly Reverend Grandpa Kim/Cyclist 
A $10 license fee for some bike riders is one of the more original ideas being bandied about in Des Moines as a way to raise money for the state's roads. Proposed by John Putney, R-Gladbrook, the bill would apply only to Iowans who ride on highways and secondary roads, not to those riding in town or on bike trails. It also would not apply to bike race participants or events like the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. One must recall that citizen-lawmaker Putney annually proposes legislation that gives vent to his hatred and anger toward bicycles and the people who ride them. it stems from an encounter he had a few years ago while driving from Gladbrook to Des Moines on state highway 330, a diagonal four-lane divided highway that runs from Marshalltown to the east side of Des Moines via Altoona/Prairie Meadows. It seems that citizen Putney, whom I envision to be a pudgy, pasty man with an over-developed horn callous, drove up to a group of four bicyclists riding toward Des Moines in the right-hand lane. Rather than pass them and go on about his business, he honked repeatedly, slowed down, rolled down the windows, and told them in no uncertain terms to leave the roadway and ride their bikes on a nearby county road. After stopping to further engage the cyclists, who told him that they had no such intentions, and further that he had no authority to order them to leave the highway, he informed the group [out-of-state cyclists touring the country, passing through Iowa, spending perfectly good money as they went] that he did indeed have such authority, as a member of the Iowa legislature. He added that they would rue the day they chose to disregard his sage advice. Very shortly after this incident, he introduced a bill banning all bicycles from state highways. As this session was nearing "funnel time" the appropriate committee effectively killed his proposal by locking it in a closet and refusing to bring it out for discussion by the committee. My sources in the legislature assure me that such treatment has greeted all of his subsequent attempts to force bicyclists into his legislative ditch. I make every effort to ride my bike on highway 330 whenever it is reasonably possible, hoping for just such a chance encounter. Sadly, it is my understanding that citizen-lawmaker Putney is retiring after the end of this session. I am confident that the voters of Putney's legislative district will return a suitable replacement. May dog have mercy on his or her wretched soul.{comment}
 |
