This past week we spoke with AAA Iowa Spokesperson Brian Ortner and he spoke on the Hands-Free bill recently passed in the Iowa legislature. He first gave a cut and dry definition of distracted driving.
He then gave some statistics on how many accidents have happened since 2022 right here in Iowa.
Ortner says to help with the introduction of this bill, people’s phones may hold a key in themselves already to keep people’s eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.
He then gave information from a study regarding the do not disturb feature and its effect on drivers.
Ortner says it’s okay to miss a phone call or a text message, and if you believe it may be a necessary alert to answer, it is okay to pull over in order to do so. The 3-4 seconds looking down could take you the length of a football field down the road. The Hands-Free bill goes into effect on July 1st.
David Braga – KFJB News Director