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Iowa lawmakers: Text messaging, driving don't mix

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By Whitney Woodward | Tuesday, February 5, 2008 2:05 AM CST | () comments

DES MOINES — Teens would be forbidden from talking on cell phones while driving and all drivers could be banned from sending text messages from behind the wheel under a proposal lawmakers discussed Monday.

In the bill’s current form, drivers who hold intermediate licenses or special minor’s licenses would be barred from text messaging or talking on their phones while operating a vehicle.

Violators could be hit with a simple misdemeanor and a

$30 fine. The infraction would count against intermediate license-holders, who need to have 12 months of violation-free driving to qualify for a

full license.

“This is a public-safety issue,” said Rep. Swati Dandekar, D-Marion, who chaired the House subcommittee meeting to discuss the proposal.

Lawmakers, including Dandekar, expressed interest in extending the text-messaging prohibition to all drivers and requiring adult drivers to use hands-free devices for phone conversations.

“We are considering all the options,” Dandekar said.

The group will meet next week, when members will evaluate other states’ laws and car accident data before deciding whether to support a ban and what such a ban would entail.

At least 17 states and the

District of Columbia have enacted phone-use restrictions for young drivers, according to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association. Last May, Washington became the first state to ban all drivers from sending text messages.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. McKinley Bailey, D-Webster City, said he was spurred to introduce the bill after a fatal car crash in his hometown was caused by a teenage driver who was talking on her cell phone.

Bailey said keeping phones out of teen drivers’ hands would minimize their distractions and make Iowa’s roads safer. He would support broadening the restriction to adult drivers if research shows that phones also pose a distraction to adults.

“I think the intent would be if you’re driving, and you need to look at it, and it’s calling to you, to pull over,” Bailey said.

The ban, as written, would allow law enforcement officers to pull over drivers who appear to be using their phones and look young enough to hold an intermediate license.

Marty Ryan, a lobbyist with the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, said he feared the prohibition would amount to a “he said, she said” case between the officers and alleged violators. Ryan said he feared that young-looking drivers would be targeted unfairly.

He urged lawmakers, at a minimum, to change the bill to allow officers to stop only drivers who were breaking another law while using their phone — such as speeding while texting.

“The intent of the bill is perhaps noble in trying to save some teenagers from going through the same thing that happened in Webster City, (but) this is probably not the answer,” Ryan said.

Whitney Woodward can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or whitney.woodward@lee.net. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.