Polls show more than 80 percent of Iowans want tougher laws for texting while driving.
In 2010, Iowa made it a crime to write, read or send a text message while driving, but the law is a secondary offense. That means officers can only write a ticket for texting if they pull you over for speeding or another violation. Texting behind the wheel is a primary offense in 39 other states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. That gives officers the authority to pull over a driver specifically for texting.
Iowa will join those states if Senate File 391, approved this week by the Senate Transportation Committee, becomes law. The bill makes texting while driving a primary offense and clarifies that the texting ban is applicable to any electronic communication done by typing.
Texting is the most dangerous form of driver distraction. Between 2001 and 2012, about 8,000 Iowa crashes were the result of drivers distracted by a phone or other device. These crashes resulted in almost 4,000 injuries and dozens of deaths.
Texting makes the chance of an accident 23 times greater because it takes our mind off driving, our eyes off the road and at least one hand off the steering wheel. Drivers who text have slower reaction times, are 70 percent less likely to stay in their lane and often fail to notice traffic signs.
Teens have been the primary focus of Iowa’s texting and driving laws and education efforts. Texting results in car crashes that kill an average of 11 teens each day nationwide. However, a report from AAA indicates that drivers ages 25 to 39 are the most distracted by their cellphones.
Even more disheartening, many parents are not setting a good example. When educators from the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau talk with Iowa teens about the dangers of distracted driving, half the students say their parents text while driving.