Coalition urges Iowa Legislature to adopt ‘hands-free’ distracted driving law

Correction: In a Feb. 3 story, an Iowa legislator misstated the fine for using a hand-held phone in a commercial truck. The fine for a first offense is $2,750 for the driver and $11,000 for the owner.

DES MOINES — Iowa lawmakers seemed generally favorable to a pitch to prohibit motorists from using hand-held communication devices, but didn't agree on the best way to stop drivers from texting while driving.

A coalition of law enforcement, insurance companies and wireless phone service providers on Thursday encouraged the House Transportation Committee to start by making texting while driving a primary offense. It's now a secondary offense in Iowa, one of five states where drivers cannot be stopped for texting.

That makes the law unenforceable, Susan Cameron, a lobbyist for the Iowa State Sheriffs' & Deputies' Association, said.

More than two-thirds of fatalities over the past five years involved 'lane departure crashes,' Cameron said, 'which generally is an indication of someone who is distracted.'

In Iowa, according to the Stay Alive: Don't Phone and Drive coalition, the number of crashes involving distracted driving increased 66 percent from 659 in 2010 to 1,100 in 2015, injuries increased more than 100 percent from 388 to 601 and fatalities increased from four to 14.

The total number of fatalities increased from 315 in 2013 to 403 last year, according to Iowa Department of Transportation statistics, while the number of arrests for operating while intoxicated dropped by 14 percent from 16,382 to 13,938.

As convincing as the statistics are, lawmakers weren't sure how to stop the increase. A bill being proposed by the Department of Public Safety would make texting while driving a primary offense punishable by a $30 fine. It would be a moving violation, so a driver's license could be suspended after a third offense.

It might take a stiffer penalty to convince drivers to put down their phones, said Rep. Gary Worthan, R-Storm Lake, a commercial truck owner-operator.

He said the first offense for the driver is $2,750, and $11,000 for the owner of the truck. Under federal law, commercial truck drivers may use only hands-free devices.

Lawmakers who voted for that probably would get tarred and feathered, Transportation Committee Chairman Gary Carlson, R-Muscatine, said. However, he plans to continue the conversation.

'There seems to be agreement that we need to do something,' he said, 'but there's not unanimity of how to do it. We heard some pretty strong voices today, but not everyone spoke and I'm not sure how to read their silence.'

Much of the discussion dealt with whether legislation should target cellphones or all distracted driving. Legislators shared anecdotes about drivers they have seen not only texting, but reading, applying makeup or holding pets in their arms.

'It's early,' Carlson said. 'We'll keep talking about it and I'm sure whatever we do will be a compromise.'

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