(Des Moines) — Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley says it is unlikely the 2021 legislature will vote to make it illegal to drive while handling a smartphone.
Grassley says some of the questions House Republicans raised haven’t been answered about the enforcement of a hands-free law.
Twenty-six states have laws that ban drivers from using a cell phone behind the wheel. It is illegal to text while driving in Iowa, but they cannot be ticketed for talking on a handheld phone.
Former Governor Terry Branstad urged legislators to pass a law in 2015, but it failed that year and in every session since.
Public safety officials in Minnesota say their hands-free driving law reduces fatalities and injuries caused by distracted driving.
