State Rep. Ann Meyer thought she was introducing a fairly easy method to enhance security on the roads when she proposed banning the usage of digital gadgets by drivers except they had been in hands-free mode.
The Republican from Fort Dodge was inspired when her invoice gained unanimous approval from a subcommittee within the Home of Representatives early this 12 months. However that was so far as the measure received.
Through the Eggs and Points discussion board Saturday, she reported that the invoice “died within the Home.”
“I’m very discouraged about that,” she mentioned.
The invoice encountered opposition for 2 causes, she mentioned.
She mentioned some opponents argued that it gave police an excessive amount of authority to look in individuals’s automobiles.
Others, she mentioned, argued that the proposal would give police extra causes to drag over drivers who’re minorities.
The invoice banned the usage of telephones and another digital gadgets by individuals who had been driving except these gadgets had been in hands-free mode. It included a $100 high quality for violations. Nonetheless, legislation enforcement officers might solely problem warnings till Jan. 1, 2022. After that date, citations together with fines might be issued, underneath Meyer’s invoice.
“I actually was shocked,” Meyer mentioned of the response to her invoice.
“I assumed this was going to be a simple invoice,” she added.
State statistics from 2019, the latest 12 months for which there’s full knowledge, present that digital gadgets performed a task in almost 2,000 crashes.
In line with the Iowa Division of Transportation, there have been 1,099 crashes in that 12 months which had been attributable to drivers who had been distracted by a telephone or different digital gadget. These crashes brought on three deaths and 538 accidents.
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