A bill mandating the mandatory wearing of helmets by moped operators under age 18 that passed an Iowan Senate subcommittee is facing uncertain passage at the committee level, a state senator said in early February.
Iowa Senate Transportation committee chairman Tod Bowman (Maquoketa) said Senate File 37, which slaps a $100 fine on teenagers that would be found violating the proposed law, could lack the needed number of supporters to get approved by the committee.
The Senate bill seeks to avert underage deaths due to moped accidents and was filed after17-year-old Caroline Found died in August 2011 after striking a tree on her mo-ped.
Motorcycle riding advocacy group ABATE representative Mark Maxwell of Des Moines expressed the group’s opposition to the proposed legislation, saying that “helmet laws do not stop crashes,” but rather that it is training and education that do.
