Could Iowa Pass a ‘Hands-Free Driving’ Law in 2025?

This is another one of those times where living in Illinois for most of my life catches up with me, and I notice I was assuming some laws in the state of Iowa were the same. Until today, I had no idea that there is technically no law that requires Iowa motorist to use a hands-free device.

Illinois took action nearly 15 years ago and banned texting and driving in 2010. Meanwhile, a hands-free bill has repeatedly failed in the Iowa legislature going all the way back to 2019. With that in mind, however, a new coalition in the state is trying to convince Iowa lawmakers to pass a bill in 2025.

Last year, the Iowa Senate passed the legislation, but it ultimately failed in the House, leading no state mandate that hands-free devices be used while driving.

Such is the motivator for the End Distracted Driving Iowa Coalition, a group with the initiative to make Iowa roads safer with the passage of legislation that prevents drivers from using their phones. Luke Hoffman, the Executive Director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, said the move would be logical:

I see this as no different than drinking and driving or texting while driving. This is a logical extension of that and would really help complete the picture as far as equipping law enforcement to do what they need to do to do their job. - Luke Hoffman, Executive Director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition

The End Distracted Driving Iowa Coalition is comprised of more than 20 organizations representing law enforcement, healthcare, business, and more, per Our Quad Cities:

For Iowa specifically, if there was just a 10 percent reduction if we were to pass this law today, that would be 700 fewer crashes and it would mean six lives saved, and 1,000 fewer accidents of distracted driving in the state of Iowa - Luke Hoffman, Executive Director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition

While Iowa has a law in place to prevent texting and driving, there is no law requiring motorists to use a hands-free device if they desire to talk on the phone:

Effective July 1, 2017, Iowa's distracted driving law became a primary law meaning a law enforcement officer can stop any driver who is texting (reading, writing, or sending) or using any other portable electronic device, unless the motor vehicle is at a complete stop and off the traveled portion of the roadway.  Previously, drivers 18 years or older had to break another traffic law before they could be stopped by a law enforcement officer - per the Iowa Department of Public Safety's website

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Read more about the efforts from the End Distracted Driving Coalition on Our Quad Cities' website. Read about distracted driving laws in Iowa on the Iowa Department of Public Safety's website.