It’s time to go hands-free in Iowa

We hope if you’re reading this on a phone you’re not driving.

Texting while driving is illegal in Iowa. But drivers are allowed to use their phones for GPS and calls, so enforcing the texting ban is difficult for law enforcement.

Last legislative session, the Iowa Senate voted 47-3 in favor of a bill that would require drivers to use phones only in hands-free mode. Despite the lopsided Senate vote, the House declined to take up the bill.

But we believe legislation is needed. The numbers don’t lie.

In a poll conducted at this year’s Iowa State Fair, 51 percent of drivers from across Iowa admitted always or sometimes using a mobile device in hand. But 85 percent of Iowans surveyed favor legislation that would require the use of hands-free technology.

In July, state officials reported that the state’s daily traffic fatality count is 20 percent higher than the five-year average. That included a 25 percent increase in speeding-related deaths.

In May, when state officials reported a 22 percent increase in traffic fatalities compared to the five-year average, they cited distracted driving due to cellphones as a “significant factor.”

In 2001, there were 518 crashes attributed to distracted driving. But the average since 2015 is 1,111 annually.

Obviously, the use of smartphones in the hands of drivers is a factor in the increases in crashes and fatalities. Iowa’s laws must change to keep up with technology. Most vehicles made and sold in the last decade give drivers the option of using Bluetooth technology to use phones hands free.

So lawmakers should acknowledge the safety risks and the technology available to keep Iowans safer on roadways. The Senate legislation remains eligible for consideration during the 2024 legislative session and the House should put it up to a vote.

The one misgiving we have about expanding the distracted driving law is, given racial disparities that already existing in the criminal justice system, we worry the new law will provide a pretext for more contact with law enforcement for Iowans of color. If the law banning the use of handheld phones becomes law, we call on police, the State Patrol and other law enforcement agencies to enforce the law in a fair and equitable manner.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com