Iowa Approves Compromise Ban on Texting While Driving

Texting while driving is bad - everyone agrees and yet Iowa just issued a "compromise" and it's got freshman lawmaker Rep. Curt Hanson perplexed.


"I thought it would be a simple bill," the freshman Democrat from Fairfield said Tuesday before the House voted 66-33 to approve a text ban compromise. "I've gotten a firsthand lesson in the intricacies of the legislative process. It's been a wonderful experience for a freshman."

What it all amounts to is that they've banned texting except in certain circumstances. The law will allow texting under the following circumstances:

• Drivers engaged in public safety duties.
• Health care professional in the course of an emergency situation.
• Truck drivers receiving digital dispatch messages.
• A driver receiving safety-related information such as emergency, traffic or weather alerts. 

All of that sounds fairly reasonable and within the realm of common sense. We can't imagine that there have been too many texting while driving accidents that involved a doctor on an emergency call. (But seriously, in an emergency, doctors are getting text messaged instructions?)

Rep. Greg Forristall doesn't agree. In an article in the Quad-City Times, his position is that "a truck driven by someone distracted by a digital dispatch message is probably more of a danger than a Mini Cooper driven by a text-messaging driver."


The biggest issue with the law is not the exceptions, but the penalties. For the first year, law enforcement will be able to give only warning tickets if they feel texting is causing a driver to behave erratically. Then, violators will face only a $30 fine, which is hardly a deterrant. If they cause an accident resulting in serious injury or death, they could face a "$1,000 fine and 180 day license suspension."


Does the penalty fit the crime? 180 day license suspension after seriously injuring or killing another person because you were texting to a friend? Come on, Iowa. Time to get tough.