As of July 1st, texting while driving is now a primary offense in the State of Iowa, which means law enforcement can pull people over specifically for that reason.

Though he and his officers haven’t yet issued a citation for texting while driving, Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn believes the new law is a step in the right direction. “It’s something that we see daily, at least in the past. So I think that’s a good start to help curb that, because I see a lot of cellphones in people’s hands as we’re driving. We still see a lot of those violations, and hopefully with the change in this law we can kind of curb those and bring those accidents down a little bit.”

Some area law enforcement officials have expressed concerns about the enforcement of the texting while driving law, a worry which Vaughn shares. “I am a little concerned about it. I wish they really had gone maybe to you know a hands-free law. Because it’s going to be difficult to determine whether somebody’s texting, or making a phone call, or doing something else on their phone, or they just have it in their hands. That’s going to be a little concerning for us.”

Vaughn adds, they would like to avoid having to seize people’s cell phones to prove they were on them. His hope is that the majority of the public will comply with the new law, and points out there is an advertising campaign attempting to stop the texting while driving problem.