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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Advocates Say Biking Bill Could Be Hazardous, Hurt Tourism

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Thursday, January 28, 2016   

PIERRE, S.D. – Some South Dakota bicyclists could face 30 days in jail and a $500 fine if a bill being considered today becomes law.

The state's House Transportation Committee is scheduled to look over HB 1073. It would require that slow moving riders get off their bikes to make room for faster vehicles on certain no-passing-zone roadways.

Bike safety advocates such as Tony Helland, an organizer with Dakota Rural Action, say this actually would make some roads less safe for bikers.

"If you're out in a rural area and you're a biker standing in the middle of nowhere to let larger vehicles pass by, that in itself is a safety danger,” he stresses. “If this is a safety issue, let's talk about it, but let's bring all of the people to the table equally."

The bill has the support of at least 11 South Dakota lawmakers in the House and three in the Senate.

Critics say it's a thinly veiled attempt to criminalize bike riding on highways.

Helland argues that not only would the bill make bike travel dangerous, it could end up hurting tourism in certain parts of the state.

He says places such as the Black Hills near Rapid City heavily promote biking tours to bring dollars into the area.

"I don't know anybody, myself included, that would want to go out and rent a bike in the Black Hills to go tour and have to pull off every few minutes for a car that needs to get by me,” he states. “That doesn't scream 'great tourism' to me."

Instead, biking advocates point to solutions such as the Complete Streets project, championed by Sioux Falls officials last summer.

That project is part of a national effort in about 200 cities and would add street protections for several modes of transportation, not just cars.






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