From the Des Moines Register:
Dallas County supervisors are expected to vote next week on a new ordinance that would require liability insurance for any organized bicycle ride featuring 20 riders or more.
The proposal, written by the Iowa State Association of Counties in response to a 2004 RAGBRAI fatality, would require the sponsors of any qualifying bicycle event to maintain a $1 million liability insurance policy that also covers the county.
Violators would be fined between $750 and $1,000 “for each day or portion of a day that a violation continues.”
“There’s a heightened awareness of liability exposure, and I think there’s a desire that we should continue protecting ourselves,” Dallas County Supervisor Mark Hanson said Monday. “We’re having a hard enough time keeping up with our roads the way they are.”
Jeff Mertz, a biking enthusiast and a former Waukee city councilman, said the proposed ordinance would be a death knell for many cycling groups, including charity fundraisers that could never afford the $300 to $3,000 insurance expense.
“It makes a huge impact,” he said. “We’re talking about $4-a-gallon gasoline, about trying to get people to live healthier lifestyles, and they want to take away bicycling.”
