IARN — An Iowa House committee has advanced legislation that would allow ATVs and UTVs to be operated on all county highways in the state.
On Thursday, House Study Bill 245 passed both a subcommittee and State Government Committee hearing just before the first funnel deadline in the legislature. Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican Representative from Wilton, is one of the bill’s sponsors. He says currently, each county board of supervisors determines if and when ATVs and UTVs can be operated on county roads.
“I don’t think it is a local control issue to allow it,” said Kaufmann. “ATVs and UTVs are used for both recreational purposes, but also farming purposes. To have 99 sets of rules, I don’t think it’s within a county’s purview to say, ‘hey, you cannot take your ATV or UTV and use the road systems to get from one place to the other.’”
Kaufmann said he’s concerned with the agricultural community and its ability to use these vehicles to move between fields or building sites. Kaufmann says he’s willing to alter the bill to still give limitations to certain areas of county roads that see more accidents.
“If it is the busy time of year for ag, that could be when people are bringing food with their ATVs, refueling or going from farm-to-farm,” said Kaufmann. “I am open and amenable if we could do something on the floor. I’m willing to work with you on some sort of a high accident-prone area and be able to do something on that end. I’d definitely be open to that.”
The legislation is eligible for debate in the full House since it passed out of committee before the legislative funnel deadline of March 5th.
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network
