Champ tells lawmakers to ban texting while driving

By James Q. Lynch 

The Gazette

DES MOINES – A national texting champion urged Iowa lawmakers to put the brakes on texting while driving.

“It's common-sense that while we're behind the wheel our chief purposes should be driving and only driving,” 16-year-old Kate Moore of Des Moines told a House Transportation subcommittee considering House Files 2020 and 2021 to ban or limit cell phone use while driving.

Moore, who got her driver's license Jan. 3, won the LG Mobile National Texting Championship and was runner-up in a world competition.

Has she texted while driving?

“God no,” she said, adding that although she may be in the minority among her peers, she tells friends she doesn't want them texting when she's riding with them.

Moore told the subcommittee of Transportation Chairman Brian Quirk, D-New Hampton, and Reps. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines and Dave Tjepkes, R-Gowrie that “the road the quick second you take to read a text message could be the quick second you swerve out of your lane or sideswipe or another car or even worse, hit someone head on.”

“Knowing the hot gossip around school that your best friend just texted you can just wait,” she said. “No text is worth risking a life.”

There appears to be consensus that texting while driving should be banned, Quirk said, which represents a change from previous attempts to address the issue. He said the explosion in use of texting as well as data on the impact of distracted driving have changed minds, including his.

The debate will be over further restrictions – banning the reading of text messages, banning cell phone use or limiting it to hands-free devices, said Tjepkes, a former Iowa State Patrol trooper.

Banning cell phone use would create a hardship for people who conduct business from their vehicles, Quirk said. He also noted that much of the state is rural and “you can drive for miles without seeing anybody.”

“To take that tool away from folks I think is going to cause some problems, so I'm a little apprehensive about banning cell phones,” Quirk said.

Another concern was raised by Mark Smith of the State Public Defender's Office. Texting while driving would be a misdemeanor under HF 2021, but a Class D felony if it contributed to a personal injury accident. He wondered if lawmakers wanted to send someone to prison for five years for what could be a minor accident.

Quirk hopes to consolidate all the bills addressing the issue into one House study bill to be considered by the Transportation Committee. House leaders have given him a green light if he can bring a bill out of committee.

Unlike a year ago, lobbyists at the meeting raised few objections. Several voiced support.