Iowa Department of Natural Resources Officer Jeremy King recently cited five cyclists on the Raccoon River Trail for riding through a stop sign at a crossing near Panora. Raccoon River Valley Trail Association Treasurer Ron Stallman was one of the riders to receive a $195 fine for failure to stop at a stop sign. Officer King says although the fine seems hefty, it’s a small price to pay compared to the possible alternative of riding past a stop sign. “It’s a safety issue and that’s the biggest thing out of this whole deal. A lot of folks think if a cyclist gets hit, it’s too bad, and nobody wants to get hurt, but nobody talks the fact that the people who hit them have to live with that for the rest of their life. Whether it’s a family in a vehicle, or what have you, those people are forever scarred with that mental image forever, because of that.”

King says with large events like this weekend’s Pedaler’s Jamboree on the trail, the risk for an accident at a crossing increases dramatically if safe riding isn’t practiced.