Subcommittee recommends passage of hands free texting bill
By David Warrington
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DES MOINES, Iowa (KWWL) — In Des Moines on Wednesday, a number of bills were discussed in subcommittee meetings. One of these has to do with distracted driving, banning handheld devices while driving.
This hands free driving bill would ban anyone from holding or viewing their electronic device while driving, in an attempt to crack down on distracted driving and accidents in the state.
This bill was unanimously supported by those that spoke during the meeting, with many people speaking passionately in their support of this crackdown on distracted driving. Among the speakers were law enforcement officers, bicyclists, and one mother who spoke about the pain of losing her daughter to a distracted driver.
She said, “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. Driving is a privilege, and to choose to text instead of drive puts other people at risk.”
Several members of law enforcement also spoke in favor of the bill. Chad McCluskey of the Iowa Police Chiefs Association described some of the struggles with the current law.
McCluskey said, “The current texting bill presents a lot of challenges with enforcement, and we applaud the governor and the legislative leadership in taking this up this year and trying to get something passed that helps keep our communities more safe, and keeps the Iowa motoring public across Iowa more safe.”
There would be some exceptions in this bill, which includes for a public safety agent, as well as a health care professional in an emergency.
The subcommittee did recommend passage on Wednesday, with many people saying they hope to get this bill passed this year.
As this bill is written, and violation of hands free driving would be a simple misdemeanor.
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