House File 2022 - Introduced HOUSE FILE BY TJEPKES Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays Approved A BILL FOR 1 An Act concerning the operation of motor vehicles on a highway 2 during a weather=related road closure and providing a penalty. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 5474YH 82 5 dea/nh/24 PAG LIN 1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 321.371A DRIVING IN VIOLATION OF 1 2 WEATHER=RELATED ROAD CLOSURE == PENALTY. 1 3 1. A person shall not operate a motor vehicle on a portion 1 4 of a street or highway that has been temporarily closed by a 1 5 highway authority due to adverse weather conditions. For 1 6 purposes of this section, a barricade, fence, or other 1 7 enclosure erected at the point of entry to the portion of the 1 8 street or highway so closed, accompanied by an official 1 9 traffic control device indicating the closure, shall serve as 1 10 notice to the public that travel on the closed portion of the 1 11 street or highway is unsafe and unlawful. 1 12 2. This section does not apply to the following: 1 13 a. A person operating a motor vehicle or implement of 1 14 husbandry for the exclusive purpose of caring for livestock. 1 15 b. A person operating an authorized emergency vehicle. 1 16 c. A person operating highway maintenance equipment on 1 17 behalf of the highway authority. 1 18 3. An operator who violates this section commits a simple 1 19 misdemeanor. 1 20 EXPLANATION 1 21 This bill provides that a person who operates a motor 1 22 vehicle on a portion of a street or highway that is 1 23 temporarily closed by the highway authority due to adverse 1 24 weather conditions is guilty, upon conviction, of a simple 1 25 misdemeanor. The bill specifies that the presence of a 1 26 barricade, fence, or other enclosure, accompanied by an 1 27 official traffic control device warning of the road closure, 1 28 placed at the point of entry to a portion of the street or 1 29 highway that is temporarily closed due to adverse weather 1 30 conditions serves as notice to the public that travel is 1 31 unsafe and unlawful. 1 32 The bill provides exceptions for highway maintenance 1 33 equipment operators, persons operating authorized emergency 1 34 vehicles, and persons operating motor vehicles or implements 1 35 of husbandry for the purpose of caring for livestock. 2 1 LSB 5474YH 82 2 2 dea/nh/24