A mother vows she'll go to jail before letting her ex-husband transport their 6-year-old son on a motorcycle during court-ordered visits. Because of a glaring gap in Iowa law, it could come to that.
Though common sense alone tells you a small child isn't safe on the back of a motorcycle, Iowa law allows it with no conditions - not even a helmet.
Dusty Clements of Colfax has primary physical custody of her child. His father gets visitation. But when he showed up on a new motorcycle last Friday, intending to transport the boy on it 22 miles home to Des Moines, Clements said no. She refused again the next day when he attended the child's ball game in Monroe, with plans to drive him home afterward. Her ex followed them back to Colfax and called police, who told Clements there is no law against a child on a motorcycle, so she could be held in contempt of court.
Clements says her son is afraid to go on the motorcycle, and can't even ride a bicycle without training wheels yet. Statistics from the Iowa Department of Transportation show motorcycle passengers are the most vulnerable of all motor-vehicle injury victims. Kids 14 and under made up 14 percent of motorcycle-related, hospital emergency-room visits between 2003 and 2005.
The father says his son has ridden before and loved it, and that Clements' resistance is "all a control game."
Disputes between divorced parents are complicated affairs, often saddled with baggage that has little to do with parental competence. This father feels he lacks power, and blames his ex for their break-up and for standing in the way of his visits. And without evidence of abuse or neglect, it's hard to argue against a parent's court-ordered access to a child. That's one reason Iowa law, which requires seat belts and child restraints in cars for kids up to age 11, needs to address children's safety on motorcycles.
"I know he doesn't want to see his son hurt," says Clements of her ex. "He's just not using good judgment." She notes he has another vehicle, and that she's offered to follow him home with the child in her car, but he's refused.
Scott Falb, a driver-safety specialist for the state transportation department, deals with crash statistics and says he personally wouldn't let anyone under 16 ride on a motorcycle. Passengers must cling on to the drivers and anticipate their actions, he says. Young kids could easily let go.
The kid's father, who requested that his and his son's names not be used, says he's seen children on the backs of motorcycles and believes it to be safe. He said he brought along a helmet for his son, though Clements said it was an adult's. And he alleges his ex-wife put the child at risk by speeding away from the ball field and driving recklessly through town with the kid. She denies that.
Motorcycles had a crash rate of 65 percent last year in Iowa. Those crashes resulted in 994 injuries and 53 fatalities per 10,000 registered users.
It turns out two bills were introduced in the last Legislature, but never made it out of committee. Senate File 129, introduced by Sen. Jeff Danielson of Waterloo, would have required motorcycle passengers under 18 to wear helmets. House File 370, introduced by Rep. Doris Kelley, also of Waterloo, would have prohibited transporting any child on a motorcycle who would have to be in a child restraint seat in a car. Supporters of the legislation included the State Sheriffs and Deputies Association, the Iowa Hospitals Association and the Iowa County Attorneys Association.
The child-safety advocates I contacted on this situation all responded with alarm, but no one could do a thing to stop it. So I found myself breaking the journalistic practice of not giving advice to people I'm covering by pleading with the father to set other issues aside, and not take his son on the motorcycle. It's up to lawmakers to take any element of choice out of it.
