Will Iowa pass a hands-free driving bill? Lawmakers say ‘this could be the year’

DES MOINES — Iowa Republican lawmakers say this could be the year they finally ban motorists' handheld use of cellphones behind the wheel.

Law enforcement officials, advocates and grieving families of Iowans killed by distracted drivers packed a Senate committee room Wednesday to again implore lawmakers to ban motorists' handheld use of mobile devices behind the wheel.

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“There should never be any young person, or any person in this state, that has to lose their life because someone chooses to text instead of drive,” Judith Collora, of Mount Pleasant, told lawmakers. “Driving is a privilege, and to choose to text instead of drive puts other people at risk. So we ask you to pass it, and hope that we can save some lives and save families the agony of losing their loved one. My daughter is never going to call me again and say, ‘Love you, Mom.’”

Collora’s daughter was killed nine days after her 30th birthday in 2023 by a driver distracted by his phone.

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Kristina Pearson and her partner went out to buy house paint during the afternoon of Aug. 7, 2023. As Pearson and Brown headed north on Boyrum Street in Iowa City, Drake Brezina, then 24, stared down at his cellphone as he drove his Chevrolet Silverado through a red light on Highway 6 — slamming into Pearson’s driver’s side door. The crash ruptured her spleen, tore her vertebral artery, fractured her skull, broke ribs and caused extensive internal bleeding.

Physicians were able to keep Pearson’s heart beating for about two and a half hours until the family could gather to say goodbye.

Brezina pleaded guilty, took responsibility for his distracted driving and was sentenced to five years of supervised probation, with a requirement he share his story as a warning of “the dangers of distracted driving, texting and other forms of distracted and impaired driving as a major problem in our society.”

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Prosecutors requested the maximum 15 years in prison.

“We have to make the penalties more severe because, you know, if people just can walk away from it, what is there to make them stop texting?” Collora told reporters through tears.

She was accompanied by Berta Pearson, also of Mount Pleasant. Her grandson, Pearson Franklin, a 20-year-old utility worker, was killed along with a colleague in October 2022 while working on a bridge in Burlington. The pair were placing construction barrels behind their stationary pickup truck, which had its yellow construction lights on, when a driver distracted by an app on her cellphone struck the two workers.

The driver, Emily Johnson, was found guilty of two counts of reckless homicide and two counts of unlawful use of an electronic communication device, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 30 months of probation.

“We have to do something. We can't let more kids die just because somebody thought they needed to be on that silly phone,” Pearson said.

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Bill would increase penalties for drivers caught using phone

A three-member subcommittee of Senate lawmakers voted unanimously Wednesday to advance legislation that would make it illegal to use a phone or mobile device while driving unless it's voice- activated or hands-free.

Senate File 22 would allow for mobile device use while driving only in voice-activated or hands-free mode. Any hand-held use of a device while driving would be prohibited.

The bill also would increase the scheduled fine for this violation from $45 to $100 and would make it a moving violation that can be considered for purposes of administrative suspension of a driver’s license or to establish habitual offender status.

If serious injury or death occurs, the fine is $500 and $1,000, respectively, and the driver’s license could be suspended.

The bill provides exceptions for first responders while on duty and health care professionals in the course of emergency situations. It also provides exceptions for receiving a weather or emergency alert, reporting an emergency situation, for those operating farm machinery and for certain radio operators and transit drivers.

Supporters, including bicyclists, motorcyclist, insurance companies, automakers, law enforcement and others emphasized the bill's potential to save lives.

They highlighted the need for clear legislation against texting and driving.

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State and local law enforcement officials say the state’s prohibition on texting while driving, enacted in 2017, is nearly impossible to enforce because drivers can say they instead were making a call or using the device’s GPS, which still is allowed under current state law.

Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, raised concern about the bill's exclusion of farm equipment.

“The DOT said that there were 1,000 crashes the Midwest involving farm equipment and cars, and 30 deaths in Iowa with cars and farm equipment,” Petersen said. “… I would hate for us to be sending a message that it's OK for them to text” and drive farm equipment on the highway.

“I'm happy to sign off on the bill, but I hope that maybe we can keep our thoughts open as to making sure that everyone's safe, no matter where they live, in rural or urban areas,” she said.

Distracted driving crashes have increased by 43 percent over the last decade, according to Iowa Department of Transportation crash data.

There were 351 traffic-related deaths in Iowa in 2024, down from the 378 deaths in 2023, but still high compared to previous years. Wrong-way drivers, high speeds, unbuckled seat belts and distracted driving have contributed to those high numbers, according to the Iowa State Patrol.

With governor’s support, bill’s backers say ‘this could be the year’

Bills limiting cellphone use by mandating voice-activated or hands-free technology while driving have been introduced in the Iowa Legislature since 2019, but all attempts at passage have been unsuccessful.

The legislation overwhelmingly passed the Iowa Senate in 2023, but the Iowa House hit the brakes. It failed to advance during last year’s legislative session, after the proposal was combined with legislation that would ban traffic enforcement cameras.

Despite bipartisan and law enforcement support, a wing of Republicans in the GOP-controlled House have objected to the legislation saying it infringes on Iowans’ individual rights, and that lawmakers should look at other ways to more broadly crack down on activity that diverts attention from driving — not just talking or texting on a phone.

Lawmakers this year, though, say they’re cautiously optimistic, hoping the governor's backing will be the nudge needed to win majority backing in the House to get it past the finish line.

During her annual Condition of the State address Tuesday, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, for the first time publicly, pressed lawmakers to pass a hands-free driving bill.

“For the sake of all our loved ones on the road, let’s finally pass legislation that requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road and away from their phones,” she said.

Rep. David Young, a Republican from Van Meter and chair of the House Transportation Committee, has introduced similar legislation in the House — House Study Bill 64 — and assigned it to a five-member subcommittee.

He said the bill will be discussed in committee over the next few weeks, with plans to include the Iowa Secretary of Transportation and public safety officials.

“I met with Transportation Secretary today, and in Iowa (for those) ages 14 to 17, the No. 1 cause of death is traffic accidents,” he said. “And he had mentioned that within a year distracted driving fatalities in Iowa have gone up 66 percent. So we need to stop those numbers, and hopefully this can help.”

Young told reporters Wednesday he’s optimistic legislation will pass with bipartisan support, bolstered by the governor's endorsement.

“This should be the year — I think could be the year” a law gets passed, Young said. “I see almost 30 groups out there — and it's growing — get behind this and be so public about it, as well as to have the governor mention it in her condition of the state, gives us some momentum too.”

The Iowa Bicycle Coalition and more than 25 other groups representing law enforcement, health care, labor, business, transportation and insurance have launched a statewide campaign to press Iowa lawmakers to finally pass a hands-free driving law.

Similar laws in states like Alabama, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio have proved effective at reducing crash rates, according to a 2024 report by the Governors Highway Safety Association.

“We believe it's going to save lives, plain and simple, and we believe this is the seat belt law of our generation,” said Luke Hoffman, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition.

The Iowa State Patrol and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau conducted a survey during the 2024 Iowa State Fair that found nearly 85 percent of the more than 1,300 Iowans surveyed supported legislation mandating hands-free phone use. And 96 percent said they regularly see others driving with a cellphone in hand.

“I think what's happened is the technology has kind of got improved, and I think people feel more comfortable with it now,” said Sen. Mark Lofgren, a Republican from Muscatine who is leading efforts to pass the bill in Senate. “I mean, I don't want to be over confident here, but I think we've got the best momentum going on now that we've ever had. There's no doubt about that.”

Gazette reporters Vanessa Miller and Emily Andersen contributed to this report.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com