An Iowa legislator expresses his thoughts on how to tackle distracted driving with a bill that was recently passed.

District 28 House Representative David Young confirms that the Hands Free Bill is moving through the legislature. The bill, otherwise known as Senate File 22, would prohibit the use of cell phones while driving, unless it’s hands free or voice activated. Young, who is also the Chair of the House Transportation Committee, is passionate about cutting down on accidents due to people not paying attention on the road. 

He states that there is a current law in Iowa that advises drivers not to text while driving, but he says that people are finding loopholes around that using examples like emailing, playing a phone game, or modifying a music playlist. Young stresses that when people are behind the wheel, they need to focus solely on getting to their destination.

“When you are driving a car, you should not be operating another machine while you’re doing it. Let’s face it, when navigating an iPhone system, or an iPad, or a phone, that’s a machine as well and you get really really distracted, and we’ve had deaths in Iowa, tragic incidents, debilitating accidents where people are maimed and can’t walk anymore, and people have died. And we are behind the curve on this.”

Young wants people to understand the consequences that these actions can cause by affecting many lives. He states that the bill passed 22 to zero at the transportation committee, while also passing unanimously in the companion senate committee, and Young is hoping to advance the bill to the floor of the House and hopes the Senate will do the same very soon. He concludes that other states that have this legislation  implemented have seen a reduction in distracted driving incidents.