Iowa Subcommittee Likes The Phone Free Car Bill

A bill driving has cleared a Senate subcommittee to make it illegal to be handling or scrolling on a cell phone while driving in the state of Iowa.

Two women from Mount Pleasant were at the subcommittee’s hearing yesterday (Wednesday) to urge lawmakers to act.

In 2023, Judi Collara’s 30-year-old daughter Kristi was hit at an intersection by a texting driver who didn’t see the light was red, and In 2022, Berta Pearson’s 20 year old grandson was setting up a construction zone on the Mississippi River bridge at Burlington when he was hit and killed by a driver checking an app on her cell phone.

Waukee Police Chief Chad McCluskey (muh-KLUSS-kee) spoke on behalf of the Iowa Police Chiefs Association at yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) hearing. “We have to do something,” he said. “We can’t let more kids die just because somebody thought they needed to be on that silly phone.”

Earlier this month, Governor Reynolds used part of her Condition of the State address to again call on lawmakers to pass this law, saying motorists may only use cell phones in voice activated or hands-free mode while driving.