Trooper Dinkla. (RI Photo)
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month and Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Alex Dinkla says law enforcement officials are hoping it will be the month Iowa law is changed — to forbid motorists from handling a smart phone while driving.
“People are drifting across the center line and they’re having head-on collisions. There’s a reason for that,” Dinkla said on Iowa Public Radio. “Vehicles just don’t — for a random reason — go across the center line on their own. Those drivers are doing something inappropriate.”
Iowa law currently bars texting while driving, but Dinkla says it’s not working to curb distracted driving. “In law enforcement we have those big marked nice pretty vehicles that have the lights and the stickers all over it. What do people do? It’s just like a lot of times when you see that officer and you’re speeding, you’re going to hit the brakes and slow down,” Dinkla said. “It works that way with the phones. The devices go down. It’s tough to see.”
Dinkla cited investigations of recent fatality crashes in Iowa that show drivers’ smart phone use was a factor.
“We’ve got people watching how to install drywall on YouTube. They’re watching movies. A recent text showed a girlfriend was going to go buy some cupcake mix to bake her boyfriend some cupcakes when she crashed. That text was still on the device when the officers arrived,”Dinkla said. “This is out there. It’s way prevalent and we need it to stop.”
Last week the Senate voted 47-3 to approve a bill that would bar drivers from handling a smart phone. The bill must clear the House Transportation Committee this week or it’s no longer eligible for consideration this year.