Government : Baylee's Bill finds encouragement with Benton County Supervisors

Sisters of Baylee Hess who was lost in an accident spoke to the Supervisors finding support

At Tuesday's Supervisor's meeting, the family of Baylee Hess came before the Supervisors seeking their support to make a deadly intersection safer for others.

The 26 year old was killed in a car accident at the intersection of Highway 30 and 21st Avenue in Benton County on November 19, 2019.

The family has presented a bill to the state HF 2004, which is currently in a subcommittee and if it were to be passed into law it would be called 'Baylee's Bill'.

The bill would require rumble strips be placed at each intersection, outside of city limits, where traffic exceeds 55 mph.

Baylee's two sisters, Jasmine Gatson and Jade Ewoldt, have taken on the task of representing their sister in the battle to make safety a priority at these intersections.

Benton County Supervisor Gary Bierschenk agreed with the family that this intersection is dangerous and avoids it if at all possible when he drives through the county. Also sharing his experience with an accident with a semi and fog, Supervisor Rick Primmer suggested that some sort of flashing light should also be required further back at the "stop ahead" sign so that there is a second warning in effect.

The cost of adding rumble strips approximately 10 years ago was a mere $1,500 so it's estimated that it might cost around $2,000 now to add the feature to the dangerous intersections.

The county supervisors were all in agreement with the family that something should be done with the intersection as quickly as possible and will also send a letter in support of Baylee's Bill.

Sponsoring the bill are Iowa Representatives Dean Fisher, Tom Gerhold, and Cecil Dolecheck. There is need for two more Representatives to join the effort which will be discussed in a meeting Thursday morning.

The family is asking anyone who would like to see this change to contact their local representatives to show support.