Iowa’s Hand-Free Driving Law and Traffic Safety

[Kay Henderson] Iowa is on pace this year to have the fewest traffic fatalities in a century. We'll talk with law enforcement and safety experts about what's making Iowa roads safer on this edition of Iowa Press.

[Announcer] Funding for Iowa Press was provided by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.Banking in Iowa goes beyond transactions. Banks work to help people and small businesses succeed, and Iowa banks are committed to building confident banking relationships. Iowa banks, your partner through it all.

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[Announcer] For decades, Iowa Press has brought you political leaders and newsmakers from across Iowa and beyond. Celebrating more than 50 years on statewide Iowa PBS, this is the Friday, December 26th edition of Iowa Press. Here is Kay Henderson.

[Henderson] On this episode of Iowa Press, we are joined by three traffic safety experts. And I'm just going to begin with a little PSA. January 1st is coming, and that is when the state law takes effect. That will start ticketing drivers if they are handling a cell phone while they're driving down the road. By the way, the penalty for that ticket is $100. If you get too many of them, you could lose your license. Let me introduce the people here to talk about that and other safety issues. We're joined by Brett Tjepkes. He is bureau chief of the Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau. Larry Grant is a State Safety Planner with the Iowa Department of Transportation. He had a long career in law enforcement before joining the DOT. And Alex Dinkla is a sergeant with the Iowa State Patrol. Welcome to the three of you.

[All] Thank you. Yeah, thanks.

[Henderson] Thanks for being here. Also joining our conversation, Erin Murphy of The Gazette in Cedar Rapids.

[Erin Murphy] So, Alex, let me start with you. Kate mentioned the new law. It also had a sort of soft launch. It started July, where officers could issue warnings, just not citations yet. In since then, how many of those warnings has Iowa State Patrol issued across the state?

[Alex Dinkla] Well, you know, we can't do that alone. Bret. And out of the governor's traffic Safety Bureau brings a huge connection with other law enforcement entities. But all law enforcement collectively have been out working hard to educate the public on this new law. And through July, through kind of the end of November, is what we've tracked so far. Close to 10,000 warnings have been issued there, and that is strictly a warning has been issued. But then also giving little educational pamphlets out to help educate the do's and the don'ts, and just trying to make people aware of the new law.

[Murphy] And I spoke to someone with the State Patrol recently about this, and I was told that the that number has been decreasing a little bit month to month. Correct me if I'm wrong and if not, is that a sign that maybe people are starting to pay attention to this? Or are your officers just feeling more generous as we closed in on the holidays? Why are those numbers coming down, do you think?

[Dinkla] You know, there's always different factors of of obviously any traffic stop as an officer's discretion. What they're choosing. But you know, as we kind of progress through hopefully people are are catching wind of the new law. And yeah, we start January 1st. That's going to be a shift over. And you may not be receiving a warning. You may be receiving a citation after January 1st, but we'll see how that goes. And hopefully people will start catching on. And we think fatalities are trending in that same direction. And we want to have good results out of this new law.

[Murphy] Yeah. And speaking of that, Brett, I wanted to ask you other states that have had similar laws have seen a reduction in traffic fatalities, I'm guessing. Obviously, that's the goal here.

[Brett Tjepkes] Yeah. Yeah. And really we're seeing the reduction that a couple other states in the Midwest have seen with Illinois and Minnesota and, you know, on this soft rollout or this warning period, something that we've learned from from other states is that they wish they would have taken advantage of that warning period to really push the education and awareness. And so that is something that we have been dedicating as much resources and as much time as we can. Alex was talking about the educational pamphlets, and I brought one with me. This is something that we've printed 60,000 of these cards and been disseminated them just to anybody that wants one from the governor's Traffic Safety Bureau to our local partners. And so law enforcement are handing them out. PSA social media website, they're in every rest area. They're in every driver's licensing station in the state of Iowa. So we really we don't want to have to, to to come to the citation. We want to educate people and make them aware as much as possible. So that's something we learned from these other states. But yeah, we're seeing the same reduction so far, very similar to the other states that enacted the law.

[Murphy] Okay. And we're going to get into a little bit of the details on that. Larry. we'll make it to your expertise. But I was curious to start with you on this. We all are drivers to and we all see what other drivers are doing on the roads. Or maybe if we're honest with ourselves enough, some of us have a story of actions they've taken. What do you have an anecdote of? What behavior you've seen in other drivers that is worrying, and that is an example of why this law is needed.

[Larry Grant] One of the things is a lot of drivers, they really kind of think of themselves, only it's them. It's that self gratification, instant gratification of I'm the most important driver out there. Whether you're even following a snowplow, you love snowplows, but you don't want to follow them. And so they they want that speed. They always think that they're late. And that's the problem is that aggressive driving plays into that. And then when they're distracted, it really compiles on everything during that driving period.

[Murphy] And Alex, real quick before I kick it over to Kay here this law was multiple years in the making. The previous law was just a ban on texting while driving. Law enforcement talked about how difficult that was to enforce because, you know, the driver could argue, well, I wasn't texting. I was doing something else on the phone. It took a number of years to get it across the finish line. What was, in your view, the ultimate reason that it finally did?

[Dinkla] You know it? It wasn't one person that did this. It wasn't one department that did this. This was a collective effort amongst many folks. You heard stories of people that were involved in texting and driving. They championed trying to get that across the finish line. The Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau, many other city county supporters with that. So it was definitely a collective effort. The previous law, you know, we kind of just talked a little bit had I always refer to it as had a lot of gray area people were confused, law enforcement was confused. This this new law, it it stripped all that gray out. So it's pretty cut and dry. Now. You cannot have that cell phone in your hand, period.

[Murphy] Governor Reynolds also made it a priority last year. How big was that of when you talk about the legislative process?

[Dinkla] Absolutely. You know, that was huge for her to bring that out right at the beginning of the of the legislative season last year, just brought that out, made it one of our key priorities. And, you know, as we go through now, the end of the year, we're seeing and we're reaping the benefits of it. And that's that's a huge success that we can say. And we want to continue that success as we continue forward.

[Henderson] Well, Brett, talking about education. So what does hands free mean if I am driving.

[Tjepkes] Well, I think Alex really nailed it. Is that it has to be out of your hands. It can't be in your hand. It's hands free and something that we had to kind of work through, I think with the public and messaging is that you don't have to have a new vehicle with all of the technology involved in it. Almost every phone that's out there will make a hands free call. You can ask Siri, you can ask Alexa, and or even just a one touch with the law allows for, but it can't be in your hand. And so phones will do it for you. It can be a little plastic holder. The best part is to put it away. Have it in your pocket, put it somewhere and things can wait. We don't need that. That instant messaging or instant gratification that Larry was talking about.

[Henderson] Well, maybe somebody can. We can have a show of hands. But do you know what percentage of vehicles are now equipped that are on the Iowa highways and roads that are equipped with hands free technology, which, I mean, ten years ago, it was a fraction. It's it's a greater percentage now.

[Grant] When you just hit on it, really it takes about ten years for the fleet. And I mean, fleet means all vehicles to catch up on every new technology. So we are slowly seeing, you know, let's go back in time. The first thing we had was cruise control. And so fast forward now everything has cruise control, antilock brakes, airbags, crush zones. So all vehicles now are becoming that even at standard equipment time now. So but it takes time. It takes time to for that fleet to actually flip over to everybody having that technology.

[Henderson] So can people use their phone for navigation. That was one of the things that legislators who had opposed this in the past, Alex said, I need my phone for navigation.

[Dinkla] Yeah, drivers can use this for navigation. Now, but it works similar to like your CarPlay that would be in newer vehicles. If you start driving and you go to push the CarPlay, it won't let you enter the address as you're driving. The phone is the same way we have to enter that address in before we start our drive. And then the minute you put it up on there, it's going to work.

[Murphy] Larry, I'll start with you on this. Similar to what we just talked about with the technology catching up with the fleet, I'm wondering about behaviors and compared to, like a seatbelt law, where behaviors used to be different, we got the seatbelt law, and now the vast, vast majority of people don't even think about it. If they get in the car, they click a, put the seatbelt on, I'm guessing the hope is, is there any reason to believe that as these laws become more common and and cars become more technologically advanced, that the behavior of drivers will eventually just catch up to that to in a way where not only do we just get in and click a seatbelt without thinking about it, we get in and we don't touch our phone without even thinking about it.

[Grant] Well, that's the hope. I mean, obviously, you know, when we look at things, we're looking at safer vehicles, safer roads and safer people. So those three components have to tie together. And we've already talked about the safer vehicles when, for example, the Iowa Dot, we try to make the roads safer by whether it's construction or adding roundabouts, diverging diamonds, different types of roadway. But we also look at the very basic things such as line markings, so that that paint strips going down the road, we we're enhancing them from 4 inch to 6 inch. Now we're doing that for the driver to make them safer so they can visually see it. But we're also doing it for the technology that we talked about of that vehicle. Seeing that paint marking better and also rumble strips, that's a big thing. And we'll I'm sure we'll talk about it. But the number one causation for a fatality crash in the state of Iowa is run off the road. So how can we prevent those run off the roads leaving that lane. So we're adding edgeline rumble and centerline rumble strips for that reason alone is to try to keep those vehicles in in the lane itself.

[Henderson] So when you say run off the road, does that mean speed was involved or are there other factors?

[Grant] Speed usually is involved, but it's not necessarily, it could be a distraction. It could be fatigue. 

[Henderson] A deer. 

[Grant] Well, everybody, when they get into that crash scene, everybody always says there's a deer there. But not necessarily always true. But but fatigue. Fatigue is another really big thing. People are falling asleep and they won't want to admit to it. Just like whether it's a distraction with the cell phone or anything like that. But it's that run off the road. Usually it's a single occupant fatality. I'm talking fatalities alone. And then that in itself is our number one focus. So that's why we're trying to come up with that. Just like if you see the retroreflection strips that we're putting down chevrons on curves or on stop signs, it's again to draw that attention of that driver to look up a little bit. You know, as you whether you're fatigued or you're impaired, you tend to look straight down in front of the vehicle. And we want those people to look up a little bit to see those signs. Those warning signs, and not drive off the road so well.

[Tjepkes] And if I may, to to Lee's point, you know, people make mistakes, you know, changing behavior. It's difficult. You know, it's been a long time since the seatbelt law was enacted, I believe it was 1986, and it took a long time to get the majority of people to wear their seatbelts. So layers of protection, you know, it's shared responsibility and all of the things that that engineering, roadway engineering vehicles are doing also helps influence driver behavior. So, you know, it really is a big picture, a full system view that that we appreciate. And also the need for, you know, all of our partners, all of our stakeholders to be working together on these issues.

[Murphy] Yeah. Alex, I wanted to circle back real quick on something you touched on earlier when you talked about the the encounters that officers are having now as they're issuing just these warnings and educating, I'm sure there's not hard data on this. This is a very anecdotal question, but how many people out there are aware of this? And I have reported this story relentlessly. We hope everybody has read and listened to our stories, but I'm sure that's not the reality. But what percent of the population is aware of this new law?

[Dinkla] I would say most probably are aware of it, but it is, you know, we we still stop people. I can tell you, I've stopped several people and they go up there and I wasn't aware that there's a new hands free law, but some of it still goes back to what we'll say. Larry already said it a little bit is is kind of that me, me, me. I have a text, I have a chime that goes off. I have to see it. They can't resist that temptation. And it's some of it's just some taking some self responsibility to really take that temptation away, have that willpower to not answer the phone or answer that message. And, you know, that's that's our hope is that people one day will get there. We used to be there at one point when we didn't have that temptation, but we hope that one day we will get there where most of our drivers are putting that temptation away.

[Henderson] Larry, we've talked briefly about traffic deaths so far in calendar year 2025, and for the benefit of our viewers who may be watching this on December 26th, we're taping this conversation on the 12th of December. And so far, there have been a dramatic reduction in traffic deaths. To what do you attribute that?

[Grant] So let's go back. 1925 DOT started collecting data on crash fatalities. We had 216. Excuse me, 261 fatalities that year. From then on, we never were under 300. Actually, in 1970, we were at 912 fatalities. So you can see a huge increase. And then we slowly start coming down back to technology of cars. The safer drivers, you know, think about alcohol laws back then impairment was a lot higher.

[Henderson] Seatbelts.

[Grant] Seatbelts, there was no seatbelts back then. So as of today, if the taping we're at 253 fatalities. This is really a big thing. Not granted one fatality is too many. And everybody needs to realize that. But we're we're down 77 fatalities on average right now. And if you go back for our high in the last five years, we're down over 100 fatalities. That's 100 lives that are still here. So that's just huge when we look at that. So when you kind of go back to what I said before, as the safer vehicles, safer roads and the safer people, safer people comes into the educational component. And the educational component can be a handout. It can be being stopped by law enforcement. DOT is doing a lot of safety videos on different types of topics, social media, and just word of mouth. A lot of times, peer pressure is the greatest thing we have out there. So whether it's a family member that's putting peer pressure on somebody, driving to says slow down or wear your seatbelt, even though we have a very high seatbelt compliance, Brett and I always kind of joke about this because we get in an argument about it, but we have a high seatbelt compliance for the state of Iowa. But when you look at fatalities, over 50% of them aren't wearing seatbelts. Or even though we don't have a helmet law, they're not wearing helmets. So that's that safer driver. That educational component. And we think they're starting to at least some of them are coming around. And that's what's driving down fatalities this year.

[Henderson] Brent, your organization has safety in the title. And you've been on this program before talking about how influential children have been in encouraging their parents, who are driving them around to employ safe behaviors. What are your thoughts about how this traffic safety issue, in terms of fatalities, is trending?

[Tjepkes] Well, I think with young people, it's difficult to get in front of young people. It's it's difficult to get into schools. You know, they they have a lot of requirements and a lot of things with the curriculum. And so really getting in front of young people because their time is so valuable. So we're finding ways to to do that, to have some educational opportunities in the school system. And so we support and we partner with several organizations with that. Mothers Against Drunk Driving is a very good organization that provides some educational opportunities to youth for the power of youth, the power of parents to resist alcohol. But also we have we have a couple other partners that that are able to to get in front of kids. And I think parents or adults need to understand that they're setting the example for their youth. And so if I'm a parent and I'm not wearing my seatbelt, my kids are going to see that if I'm distracted, speeding or even consuming alcohol or impaired, and my kids see that it's so influential. And so, you know, I want parents to understand that the example you set is either going to be a good one or a bad one. And so I hear all kinds of stories about young people. You know, mom, you need to put your phone down or dad, you're going too fast. So those eyes are on you. And we need, need to really understand that.

[Murphy] Brett, as we're preparing just this morning, I saw a press release from your organization. And one of the things that highlighted that was that 37% of deaths, traffic deaths are impaired related. And it was talking about the holiday season. And people have holiday parties that they go to. Obviously just just hoping you could touch on that. And obviously what a stress point you felt that was at this time of year.

[Tjepkes] Yeah. You know, first of all, I guess the majority of drivers are safe. They are. Most drivers are not impaired. They're not speeding. They are wearing their seatbelts. And I think we're going to get there with the majority of drivers not using their cell phones, they maybe are right now. But but we're going to get there. And also nothing is saying that people can't consume alcohol. It's legal. We know that that happens in social settings. It's just refrain from driving and and the really message we want people to have is to plan ahead. We want people to just plan ahead. If you know you're going out to socialize, have a plan on how you're going to drive and how you're going to have transportation. It's a little easier in some metropolitan areas where there are rideshares, Ubers, lifts and other maybe community transportations, taxis, buses, but it is more difficult in a rural setting. So having a plan designate a sober driver, have somebody come and get you. That's what we're really trying to encourage people to do, is to plan ahead.

[Murphy] And speaking broadly. And Larry, you started to touch on this a little bit earlier. You know, we've talked about laws and car technology and you talked about the three different types of, you know, arenas that all the safety falls under. And you started to touch on. I was hoping you could elaborate on the things that the from the road planning side of things that the DOT does to make roads safer.

[Grant] So yeah, absolutely. We learn from other states as they learn from us, we learn from counties and cities and different types of roadways that they're creating. So you see, you're starting to see more new types of roadways in the state of Iowa. And it it's not new in the country, but for like roundabouts, we have over 100 roundabouts now in the state of Iowa. The diverging diamond is where you're going to see usually on interstates where --

[Murphy] And describe those real quick.

[Grant] So diverging diamond is going to be you're actually going to be going opposite direction. It feels very awkward at first, but it's so much safer. You don't get those T-Bone crashes. And that's similar to a roundabout. Yes. You might have some glancing crashes, but fatalities and serious injury crashes do not occur.

[Murphy] As not crossing each other.

[Grant] You're not crossing and it's slower. So that that's a big thing. Another one is is called a reduced conflict intersection, which is going to be we have one up on highway 20 by in the Webster City Fort Dodge area. And that is a change. And they're looking at those to be put in other parts of the state. And that's probably one of the biggest things when we go to do those type of change for engineering, the communities will get the comments. That'll never work. It'll never work. And it just takes that time to get used to that process. And they're much safer. So it really comes down to is we say, the traditional intersection of putting lights up and things like that. There's so many conflict points in so dangerous conflict points of people running into each other, T-Bones that we want to make sure that they they look at what what's the safest way of doing it? Do you want the safest way, or do you want the old school way of doing it? 

[Henderson] Alex, if folks follow the Iowa State Patrol on social media, they sometimes see a trooper has pulled somebody over doing 150 miles an hour. How bad is the level of really high speed on the highways?

[Dinkla] You know, at different times we catch drivers going extremely fast, you know, alarming speeds, some of the speeds that, you know, we've tracked here, 164, 151, 142. Those are actual speeds that everyday citizens not in race cars in plain Jane automobiles are driving and choosing to drive. And, you know, yes, we do put those on our social media at different times. And a lot of it is to let the public understand that people are choosing to do this out on our roads. It's this is a reality. And it's, you know, at times it is a big problem. And we hope that people will eventually understand those dangers. And, you know, whether we look at other changes in in our laws with those high speeds, egregious speeds, you know, this is this is a problem. And we've been tracking this for a number of years.

[Henderson] So are you talking about a ticket that essentially pulls your license immediately?

[Dinkla] You know, that will be a, you know, a legislative they'll make kind of some of those choices of what fines, what ramifications they will get for that. But, you know, it's having people be accountable for those, you know, some people are okay with just paying a ticket for that, that high speed. And and they're fine with that. Some of those high speeds currently, they will still get a revocation from the dot on that. But you know, it's how fast are people are driving out here at different times. You know, you question yourself a little bit like how does someone make that decision to want to drive that fast? Because some of the excuses that people are even bringing out with that, I just had to take my kid to school. We were running late. I'm late for work. I just wanted to test drive a car. You know, these are not even legit. I wouldn't even say legit excuses why people are choosing to drive that fast. Because our law enforcement, we don't even drive that fast to calls. And so when people are driving that fast, that's dangerous.

[Henderson] Well, I have to stop this vehicle, this program right now because we are out of time for this conversation. Thanks to the three of you for being here.

[Tjepkes] Thank you. 

[Dinkla] You bet. Thank you.

[Henderson] You can watch this episode and many others at iowapbs.org. For everyone here at Iowa PBS, we hope you're having a good holiday season.

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[Announcer] Funding for Iowa Press was provided by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.Banking in Iowa goes beyond transactions. Banks work to help people and small businesses succeed, and Iowa banks are committed to building confident banking relationships. Iowa banks your partner through it all.