Iowa’s new hands-free driving law takes effect on July 1. A new analysis found that the law is expected to bring in $88 million for Iowans.
The analysis was published by
Common Sense Institute Iowa,
a non-partisan nonprofit research group. It is based on data from two texting and driving laws passed in 2017 —
Senate File 234
and
Senate File 444.
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CSI Iowa officials say the impacts of crashes go beyond injury.
“It has a deleterious impact on Iowa’s economy for there to be a lot of crashes, a lot of wrecks,” said Ben Murrey, the organization’s director of policy and research. “It costs local services emergency services, but it also costs people money out of their own pockets.”
The analysis compared crash reports from Minnesota and Ohio, nearby states that have enforced similar hands-free driving laws. Minnesota
implemented its law in 2019,
while Ohio
passed theirs in early 2023
— with a six-month grace period before issuing tickets.
Iowa will follow this same grace period, with law enforcement not ticketing drivers until January 2026. Murrey says he’s hopeful this will encourage drivers to be more aware and compliant — an outcome that Ohio saw two years ago.
In a statement to KCCI, the Iowa Department of Transportation said it will review the analysis, adding that a “reduction in crashes will lead to safety and economic benefits for all Iowa road users.”
Going forward, Murrey said the law’s effectiveness is all about enforcement.
“We need to go back and revisit the data in about three to five years,” he said. “We can look back and have a much better idea of whether or not we got the effect that we hoped for.”
WATCH: What to know before the hands-free driving law kicks into gear July 1
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New analysis says hands-free driving law could bring in $88 million for Iowans
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