HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON BAUDLER)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to requirements for the operation of a vehicle on a roadway laned for traffic and making penalties applicable.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.306, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   Whenever any
 
When a roadway has been divided into three or more clearly marked lanes for traffic, the following rules
 
shall apply in addition to all others
 
other rules consistent herewith shall apply
 
with this chapter:
EXPLANATION
   Under current law, certain requirements apply to a person operating a vehicle on a roadway that is divided into three or more clearly marked lanes. Those provisions include a requirement that a vehicle be driven entirely within a single lane except when it is clearly safe to move out of the lane; a requirement to heed signage pertaining to slow-moving traffic or allocating specified lanes to traffic moving in the same direction; and a requirement for vehicles in a lane designated for slow-moving vehicles to yield the right-of-way to vehicles moving in the same direction in another lane when the lanes merge. This bill makes those requirements applicable wherever a roadway is divided into lanes, regardless of the number of lanes.
   Current provisions relating specifically to driving in the center lane of a three-lane roadway are not altered by the bill.
   A violation of requirements pertaining to laned roadways is a simple misdemeanor punishable by a scheduled fine of $100. A violation that results in serious injury may subject the violator to an additional fine of $500 or driver’s license suspension for not more than 90 days, or both. A violation that results in the death of a person may subject the violator to an additional fine of $1,000 and license suspension for not more than 180 days.