Featured Stories
- Why Iowa struggles to pass hands-free driving laws
- New law protects bikers, mobile pedestrians in crosswalks
Episode Transcript
Welcome to The Gazette’s Daily News Podcast for Monday, May 6, 2024. This podcast provides the latest headlines from the Gazette newsroom. I’m Becky Lutgen Gardner.
First, despite broad support, Iowa struggles to pass hands-free driving laws. Bills mandating hands-free technology to limit cellphone use while driving have been introduced in the Iowa Legislature since 2019, but all attempts at passage have been unsuccessful. More than 30 other states have passed such laws. Why doesn’t Iowa?
Advocates, fueled by personal tragedies like Ellen Bengtson's death in 2020, have relentlessly urged lawmakers to follow suit. Ellen was fatally struck by a distracted driver who was checking an app on his phone while doing over 55 miles an hour.
The absence of a hands-free law in Iowa resulted in the judge dismissing the case against the driver. Despite bipartisan and law enforcement backing, the latest distracted driving bill faced staunch resistance, notably from a libertarian faction within the GOP, citing concerns about individual liberties.
Rep. John Wills believes the focus should be on broader measures to curb distracted driving, not solely on phone
use. He argues, "Let’s not make the phone the enemy... Let’s cure the
disease rather than putting a Band-Aid on it."
Such arguments are drawing criticism. Luke Hoffman, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle
Coalition rejects the idea of a false choice
between freedom and safety. "What is the first responsibility of
government? It is to protect the people," Hoffman asserts.
Ellen's mother, JoAnn Bengtson, urges
drivers to prioritize safety and emphasize personal responsibility: "Put
your phone away... Turn your notifications off."
Despite these pleas, the legislative impasse
persists, leaving families like the Bengtsons grappling with profound loss.
"Justice in this case doesn’t bring our daughter back," Peter
Bengtson laments. "As a parent, you want to protect your daughter. It’s
something we’ll never get over."
Next,
advocates say a new law signed Friday
by Gov. Kim Reynolds will make Iowa’s roads and crosswalks safer.
The legislation extends the state’s crosswalk protection law.
Drivers in Iowa are now required to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.
The new law expands that requirement by requiring vehicles to yield to
bicyclists and pedestrians using mobility devices in crosswalks.
Iowa Bicycle Coalition executive director Luke Hoffman said, “Whether you
are out on the trails as a cyclist, a person with disabilities in a wheelchair,
a senior citizen on an electric scooter, a kid on a...
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