DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa State Patrol and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau conducted a survey during the last State Fair and found that most of the people they polled supported hands-free driving legislation.
They spoke to about 1,500 people and 85% of them supported the legislation.
Under Iowa’s current Distracted Driving Laws, drivers may use their phones to talk and as a GPS navigation system.
The Iowa Senate has passed hands-free legislation in previous years, but bills have failed to advance in the House.
Senate Study Bill 3016 will ban the use of cell phones behind the wheel if it gets passed.
Sergeant Alex Dinkla with the Iowa State Patrol said that they’ve seen a rise in intersection crashes and lane departures, which he said is directly related to distracted driving.
He also said that if the bill is enacted, it would help law enforcement by closing loopholes in the current legislation.
“We don’t want people to guess should they or should they not be on their phone, should they be making a call, should they not be making a call. And right now, there’s people that are already confused,” said Dinkla.
There will be a full committee meeting on Wednesday at the Capitol.
