Public safety officials push for ban on texting while driving

DES MOINES – Representatives from law enforcement, safety and research sectors sent a unified message Tuesday to state lawmakers that texting while driving is a potentially deadly combination that should be banned in Iowa.

“The worst of the worst is texting,” said Daniel McGehee, a University of Iowa researcher in discussing distractions that divert drivers' attention away from operating a moving vehicle.

He said the problem will only multiply given the popularity of cell phones and social networking.

John Ulczycki of the National Safety Council, an Illinois-based nonprofit organization of member businesses that supports a national ban on cell-phone use while driving, said research shows 1.6 million U.S. crashes annually involve cell-phone use with 200,000 due to text messaging.

He told members of the House and Senate transportation committees that educational efforts by themselves don't change driver behaviors, but laws and high visibility enforcement have proven to be effective in reducing the incidence of phone-related crashes.

“People will not put down their cell phones, people will not stop text messaging until they are forced to by law,” Ulczycki said.

Col. Patrick Hoye, chief of the Iowa State Patrol, said the three main distractions for drivers are things that take their eyes off the road, things that take their hands off the wheel and things that divert their thought processes from driving.

Text-messaging involves all three, he noted.

The patrol chief said Iowa currently has laws dealing with careless or reckless driving and failure to have a vehicle under control but nothing that directly deals with distracted driving or texting that could warrant a stop solely for those activities.

Hoye said he would like to see the Legislature create a new statute to address distracted driving or specifically texting while driving and he was confident law officers could enforce such a law. He said other states have made such a violation a simple misdemeanor with more serious provisions covering situations where serious injuries or fatalities have resulted.

Ulczycki said 19 U.S. states have enacted total texting bans for all citizens, while six have bans for teenaged drivers only.

Rep. Brian Quirk, D-New Hampton, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said he expected a subcommittee would begin work next week on a bill dealing with texting while driving. Gov. Chet Culver this month said he would sign legislation that imposed a ban on texting while driving if it made it to his desk this session.