Senate bill combines distracted driving proposal with traffic camera ban

Two proposals that Iowa lawmakers have been debating unsuccessfully for years — one that would ban handheld use of cell phones behind the wheel and one that would ban traffic enforcement cameras — are now combined into a single bill.

Speakers and lawmakers at a subcommittee meeting on Tuesday all spoke in support of fining drivers who use their phones behind the wheel without voice-activated or hands-free technology. But law enforcement officers and Democrats still opposed the bill because it would also ban traffic cameras that some cities use to enforce speed limits or red light violations.

The Iowa Senate has repeatedly passed “hands-free” legislation in recent sessions, but bills have failed to advance in the Iowa House. Though texting while driving is already illegal in Iowa, law enforcement has advocated for years for the measure because current distracted-driving laws do not allow ticketing when a driver has a phone in hand while driving. Current law allows the use of handheld phones for calls and GPS directions.

The legislation, Senate Study Bill 3016, would prohibit drivers from handling phones while operating a vehicle outside of a voice-activated or hands-free mode. But the bill combines this proposal with another prohibiting state and local authorities from using automated or remote traffic enforcement (ATE) systems — such as traffic cameras — to identify and issue citations of traffic law violations.

Family members of people who died in distracted-driving accidents urged Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, the Senate Judiciary Committee chair and author of the bill, to separate the two provisions and move forward with the hands-free legislation. Kristi Castenson held up pictures of her family while telling lawmakers her husband Dave and his mother were killed in 2015 by a driver using a smart phone.

The man was charged with vehicular homicide, but was not jailed for the offense, she said. She called for enacting a hands-free law to prevent deaths and help law enforcement officers who deal with distracted-driving cases on a “daily basis.”

“We need to do something as citizens to protect the people in Iowa and everywhere because we’re losing way too many people, or people are being injured,” Castenson said.

State troopers and police officers spoke in support of a hands-free bill independent of the traffic camera provisions. Ben Davis, chief of the Fayette Police Department, told lawmakers the use of ATE systems has helped reduce traffic incidences to nearly zero in the four years since implementation. He said these technologies are especially helpful for rural law enforcement offices like Fayette, which does not have staffs large enough to enforce traffic laws at the same level as metropolitan areas.

“It helps protect our town and it’s a force multiplier,” Davis said. “Technology for law enforcement is always a force multiplier. And it helps benefit my officers from doing what they need to do … so that they can then give attention to different areas that require more attention.”

Zaun said the reason the traffic camera and hands-free measures were brought together in one bill is “because I want to pass something finally.” He also said though he dislikes being on the opposite side of an issue from law enforcement, he believes traffic enforcement cameras are unconstitutional.

He said he has heard from some small town police officers that traffic cameras are used to generate revenue because of a lack of funding, which he said is a misuse of the technology. Zaun also cited a study on the use of red light cameras in Clive that found rear-end crashes increased by nearly 20% at intersections where they were installed.

“I am not advocating you speed, I am advocating that you follow the laws that are there,” Zaun said. “But with that said, I am going to I’m going to sign on and we’re going to move this thing forward.”