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Senate Update: Funding will tackle distracted driving
by Bob Dvorsky, State Senator · Op-Ed · April 10, 2014


The Iowa Senate started Distracted Driving Awareness Month on April 1 by setting aside $200,000 to educate Iowans about the dangers of distracted driving.


The money, a part of the Department of Transportation’s budget bill (SF 2130), will go toward warning Iowans all year long that a text or call is not worth your life or anyone else’s.

Distracted driving is an epidemic that killed 3,328 people and injured 421,000 in 2012 alone. Between 2001 and 2012, about 8,000 Iowa crashes were the result of drivers distracted by a phone or other device. These crashes resulted in almost 4,000 injuries and dozens of deaths. Despite these startling statistics, 85 percent of drivers report using a cell phone while driving, according to experts from the University of Iowa.

Text messaging is the most serious distraction for drivers because it involves taking your eyes off the road, your hands off the wheel and your mind off the task of driving. According to a Carnegie Mellon study, driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent. A report from the National Safety Council found that people talking on cell phones or sending text messages cause more than one out of every four traffic collisions.

In 2010, Iowa made it a crime to write, read or send a text message while driving, but the law is a secondary offense for adults. That means officers can only write a ticket for texting if they pull you over for speeding or another violation. Recent polls, however, show that 83 percent of Iowans want tougher laws for texting while driving.

To learn more about Distracted Driving Awareness Month and how you can reduce distractions behind the wheel, visit the National Safety Council’s website at www.nsc.org/safety_road/Distracted_Driving/Pages/DDAM.aspx.



To contact Senator Dvorsky during the week, call the Senate Switchboard at 515-281-3371. Otherwise he can be reached at home at 319-351-0988. E-mail him at bob.dvorsky@legis.iowa.gov.