Des Moines, Iowa — A bill to make it illegal to be handling or scrolling on a cell phone while driving has cleared a Senate subcommittee — and two women from Mount Pleasant were at the subcommittee’s hearing yesterday Wednesday to urge lawmakers to act. In 2023, Judi Collara’s 30-year-old daughter Kristi was hit at an intersection in Mount Pleasant by a texting driver who didn’t see the light was red.
In 2022, Berta Pearson’s 20-year-old grandson was setting up a construction zone on the Mississippi River bridge at Burlington when he was hit and killed by a driver checking the Snapchat app on her cell phone.
A 2017 law banned texting while driving, but police say it’s hard to enforce since it’s still legal in Iowa for drivers to handle their phones to make calls or check navigation apps. Waukee Police Chief Chad McCluskey spoke on behalf of the Iowa Police Chiefs Association at yesterday’s hearing.
Earlier this month, Governor Reynolds used part of her Condition of the State address to call on lawmakers again to pass a law saying motorists may only use cell phones in voice-activated or hands-free mode while driving.
