The Iowa Senate passed a piece of legislation that would only allow motorists to use hands-free devices while driving. 

The bill passed with bipartisan support with a vote of 47 to 2. Iowa Senator for District 14 Sarah Trone-Garriott, voted for the legislation, says that she has heard from many Iowans and bicyclists that are concerned about distracted drivers. She says that the state laws need to catch up with the technology. 

“We need people to be reaching out to their representatives to share their thoughts on this legislation, because I think it can make people safer. And I think we have a lot of work to do in our state just to make sure that people are really focusing on what they’re doing behind the wheel and being as safe as possible, especially because in our state we have a lot of very young drivers.”

Trone-Garriott explains that this bill would make phone use while driving a moving violation and increase the fine from $45 to $100. Fines would move to $500 for accidents causing serious injury and $1,000 for violations causing death, and the drivers license could also be suspended in those cases. This bill will move to the House for consideration.