Northwest Iowa — It may seem like a broken record, but there’s a reason we are told to put down our phones while driving. It saves lives.
This is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Trooper Kevin Krull of the Iowa State Patrol tells us what we should keep in mind.
(as said:) “Well it’s really quite simple when it comes to it. Put the phones down and that’s our number one distraction… it seems like anymore with when we’re talking with distracted drivers. There are other things… food and beverages can distract you as well, other passengers in the car, but most definitely the cell phone usage… being the text messages and even dialing the phone has become a drastic problem for motorists.”
For a while, officers couldn’t pull you over only for texting and driving — it had to be in addition to something else. But that has changed, says Krull. He gives us a rundown of the current situation.
(as said:) “You can use it if you’re over the age 18 to make phone calls. You can have that phone in your hand and talk to people that way if you so choose. It is still a distraction. But however, it’s not requiring you to take your hands and eyes off the road for that great of a period of time. If you’re driving a commercial motor vehicle at no time can you use your hands to… They’re totally touch-free. If you’re under the age of 18 so our high schoolers and whatnot… they’re not allowed to use their phone period. We just encourage them not to use their phone. And it’s against the law for any of those guys to use their phone while driving. Driving is not a time to multitask. It’s… We really need people nowadays with the fatality rates climbing up there… we need people to concentrate on driving and keep their full attention on the road.”
Just a heads-up — the law that Krull is speaking of is only the law in Iowa. Other states have different laws, and in some states touching your phone in any way while driving is against the law. Krull says too, while adults MAY use their phone in their hand while driving, it’s not necessarily a good idea. He recommends a hands-free device — especially the kind that uses Bluetooth to put your call over the vehicle’s speakers.
(as said:) “Absolutely, absolutely and the car manufacturers realize the hazards and the dangers that are involved with the cell phones and the calls coming in. So they’ve created that feature to their cars to make it safer because if you make it through the crash or if you don’t have these crashes you’re going to be able to buy another car and that’s why they put those features in there to make everybody safe.”
According to Krull, the case could be made that most accidents are caused by distractions.
(as said:) “56% of serious injury crashes in the state of Iowa are the result of a vehicle leaving its lane of travel and the number one reason for people to leave their lane… departure… would be the distraction. They’re looking down and they’re not paying attention, you know, they get slightly distracted and they end up doing that. We’re getting lots of people to call in. People are fed up with people driving all over the road and it’s almost like they’re intoxicated or impaired with the alcohol or drugs. And we get those calls went oftentimes investigate those traffic complaints and find them to be just simply somebody being on their phone and distracted.”
Trooper Krull says don’t get “inTEXTicated.” He says to turn your phone off, turn it to silent mode, or get one of those sleeves to put your phone in while you’re driving, so you’re not tempted to answer calls or texts.
