Olympic medalist pushes for state bike safety bill

BOISE - Kristin Armstrong is no stranger to overcoming setbacks, having won two world championships and an Olympic gold medal in time trial road biking during her professional cycling career.

But on Thursday, while making a case for making Idaho roads and highways safer for bicyclists, Armstrong faced a stiff challenge from an unlikely source.

Armstrong is a proponent of measures that would penalize drivers who harass bikers and require motorists leave at least three feet when driving past bicyclists.

"Lives could be changed forever," the Boise resident testified during a Senate Transportation Committee meeting.

But so could the way Idaho's influential timber industry operates.

Jerry Deckard, a lobbyist for the Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho, Inc., told lawmakers the proposed changes would make it impossible for large logging trucks to give cyclists that much berth on the narrow, twisting roads in Idaho's northern, forested backcountry. Bikes already impede truckers who ship logs from forests to mills, he said.

"Our roads are designed to be built for commerce," Deckard said.

His testimony swayed lawmakers.

The committee approved the measures, but vowed to amend the one requiring a 3-foot space between vehicles and cyclists so that truck drivers couldn't be penalized.

Sagle Republican Sen. Joyce Broadsword said she arrived at the hearing ready to support the 3-foot rule, but changed course after hearing Decker's testimony.

"It isn't going to work on my rural highways," said Broadsword, who represents a district in the northern reaches of the state. "I have over 1,500 trucks a day that use those roads."

The bike safety bills are a response to seven fatal bike accidents in Idaho in 2009, a total more than double the bicycle fatalities from each year since 2004.

The measures also come as more people are opting for bikes over cars for getting to work. In 2008, an estimated 10,800 people commuted to work on bicycles in Idaho, up from 3,900 in 2000, according to data provided by the Idaho Department of Transportation.

With that level of growth, Sen. Elliott Werk, D-Boise, the bills' sponsor, says lawmakers have a responsibility to make roads safer for users big and small.

During her career, Armstrong competed across the world, from China to Switzerland. But few places have posed the kind of dangers facing riders on Idaho's streets and roadways, she said.

"Idaho is one of the most diverse and beautiful places to do this," she told lawmakers. "It's also one of the most dangerous places to ride."

She's had firecrackers thrown at her, and hears about bikers being harassed at least once a week, she said, by drivers who don't believe bikers belong on Idaho roads.

"At that moment, I feel sad," she said. "Because I know these motorists are trying to make a point."