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