Branstad joins push to ban drivers’ use of hand-held phones

DES MOINES - Gov. Terry Branstad, who used his Condition of the State speech last month to ask Iowans to side with him in 'demanding real change in the laws for distracted and impaired drivers,” has joined the chorus calling for a ban on drivers' use of hand-held phones.

'It's a dangerous situation,” the governor said Monday about use of hand-held phones contributing to distracted driving.

He cited that as a cause for the increase in highway fatalities last year. Traffic deaths rose from a five-year low of 317 in 2013 to 403 in 2016.

However, until Monday he had not specified what changes he wanted.

Iowa is not among the 15 states that prohibit drivers' use of hand-held phones. Texting while driving is prohibited, but it is a secondary offense - which means law enforcement cannot stop a driver for texting.

Under current law, a driver may use a hand-held phone to search for contacts, select music, type addresses into a navigation system and play games.

Simply making texting while driving a primary offense would not make the law enforceable, Branstad said.

That's because law enforcement still would lack the probable cause necessary to pull over a driver, Major John Godar of the Linn County Sheriff's Office told the House Transportation Committee recently.

'We would have no way of knowing if they were texting or doing one of the many other activities with a smartphone that are completely legal under this law,” he said.

Godar, as with other members of a coalition of law enforcement, cellphone service providers and insurance companies, called for a ban on all hand-help communication devices.

According to research coalition members cited, texting while driving is six times more dangerous than driving while intoxicated. Although there are many distractions for drivers, using a hand-held phone while driving is the 'most alarming” because it requires visual, manual and cognitive attention from the driver.

'I want to see us address both drivers who are under the influence as well as distracted drivers as part of an overall strategy to improve highway safety,” Branstad said.

Senate Transportation Chairman Tim Kapucian, R-Keystone, said he plans to bring Senate Study Bill 1002, a bill making texting a primary offense, before the full committee Wednesday. He said there also is a hands-free bill, Senate File 100, that has not come out of subcommittee.

So he expects legislators to have several options from which to choose on dealing with distracted driving this session.

'I'm trying to address the concerns of the rest of my colleagues. I don't know if they're all ready to go totally hands free. I could support that, but I've got to see that whatever we come up with is something that's going to make it out and get to the governor's desk,” he said.

'I think we definitely need to address the issue, and if we have to start with the primary, I want something that gets forward movement on that issue,” Kapucian added.

He also said he planned to discuss the issue with his counterpart in the House, noting 'before I bring it out, I want to see movement in the House. I don't think we ought to spend a lot of time on it if it's not going to go anywhere.”

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