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(ABC 6 News) – Drivers in Iowa should be ready to make some habit changes as a a new law banning all cell phone use while driving goes into effect Tuesday, clearing up confusion from previous attempts to address the issue.
Related: New Iowa laws taking effect July 1
“We know that it is a problem,” said Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla. “We see people day in and day out with their phone in their hand, and unfortunately we know that crashes are happening because of this.”
The data doesn’t lie, distracted driving is dangerous.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2023, more than 3,000 people died in crashes caused by distracted driving and more than 320,000 were injured.
And that’s just what’s reported.
“Many of these property damage crashes, a simple little crash, law enforcement’s not digging into those.,” said Dinkla. “They may ask that driver, ‘Were you on your cell phone? Were you on your device?’ Of course the answer’s gonna be no.”
Hence the new law, an attempt to cut down on distraction-related crashes and clear up the confusion in Iowa’s history of such laws.
For years, Iowa’s laws on distracted driving were complicated – even for law enforcement.
“We wouldn’t know from our car looking into yours if you were texting or looking for someone’s phone number,” said Capt. Brandon Franke of the Charles City Police Department. “You can’t text, you can look for someone’s phone number.”
But the new law is setting the record straight: put it away or pay.
“This takes that complication and just eliminates it because you can’t hold your phone whatsoever,” said Franke.
It’s not just your phone either.
The new law expands to include tablets, gaming devices, or any kind of device that isn’t hands-free or voice activated.
It’ll also be considered its own offense, so law enforcement won’t need another reason to pull you over for violating the law.
You won’t be getting fined under the new law for a little while, however.
For the first six months, drivers who get pulled over will just be warned and educated on the rules instead.
“You know we don’t want to come out of the gate and all of sudden just start dropping the hammer, writing lots of tickets for this,” said Dinkla. “That’s not the point behind it.”
However, come January 1, drivers in violation of the new hands-free law can expect $100 fine, and even higher amounts if they cause a crash resulting in injury or death, alongside any other charges.
For more information on the new law and all it entails, you can check the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s website.
