Iowa House panel OKs ban on handheld devices while driving

DES MOINES - A House panel on Thursday endorsed banning the use of handheld electronic devices while driving but agreed motorists who violate the new law, if passed, would only get a warning for the first year before officers would start issuing $30 tickets for the offense.

Rep. Gary Worthan, Storm Lake, chairman of a House Transportation subcommittee, said the phased-in enforcement is needed to garner support among majority Republicans in the House of Representatives. House Study Bill 139 now moves to full committee for expected action next week.

'We want law enforcement to vigorously enforce these warnings,” said Worthan.

The proposed legislation, which won 3-0 subcommittee support with Worthan's amendment, would ban the use of handheld electronic devices while driving. Representatives of auto manufacturers also asked that the bill be modified to allow for future advancements like voice-activated texting or built-in navigation that would not require setting by hand while driving.

'I am all in favor of this,” said Rep. Robert Bacon, R-Slater. 'If it can protect life, save life, it's common sense.”

The House bill expands Iowa's current anti-texting law by barring use of an electronic communication device while driving, but providing an exception for using a device in a handsfree mode. Iowa would become the 16th state to make some changes, backers said.

Supporters, including representatives of law enforcement, safety agencies, automakers, insurance carriers and communication providers, said the handheld prohibition is a preferred approach to merely making texting a primary offense rather than a secondary offense as some have proposed.

'It's just not enforceable unless it's handsfree,” said Susan Cameron, a lobbyist for the Iowa Sheriff's & Deputies Association, who noted that 68 percent of all traffic deaths in last five years in Iowa involved lane departures, 'which is a sign of distracted driving and I think that's a real wake up.”

'We believe that it's time to put your hands back on the wheel and put your phones down while you're driving,” Cameron told the subcommittee. 'It's time for us to put public safety ahead of convenience on this.”

Opposition to the bill comes from civil libertarians and NAACP representatives who want protections added to prevent law enforcement officers from using the new provisions to make stops based on racial profiling. The measure must pass the full committee next week to adhere to a 'funnel” requirement for non-money bills to clear at least one standing committee to remain eligible for consideration this session.

Sen. Tim Kapucian, R-Keystone, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he is willing to consider the one-year grace period for tickets if that's what it takes to secure House passage.

'If that's what it takes to move the needle, I think we need to continue to look at this,” he said.

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