As of July 1 the texting ban, House File 2456, will be enforced in Iowa.

It will be illegal for people under 18 to use electronic devices while driving and those over 18 to send text messages unless “the motor vehicle is at a complete stop off the traveled portion of the roadway,” according to the bill.

The bill lists the ban as a secondary offense for adults, which means you have to be caught for another offense such as speeding, running a stop light or improper lane changes before you get cited for texting, said Robert Bowers, ISU associate director of Public Safety.

Teens can be cited for the violation without another cause for being pulled over, according to the bill.

Bower said teens can have their I-pods playing as long as the devices are in some sort of dock or are directly connected to a radio but “you can’t be playing on your [Nintendo] DS or listening to your iPod directly.”

The law specifically points out that this does not apply to GPS systems, Bower said.

Bower said he is unsure how the secondary offense is going to be enforced.

“We can’t stop them initially for being on their phones … we’ll probably have to look at the phone activity to see what they were doing.”

For the first year of the ban, only warnings will be issued. Bower said warnings do not go on your record with the Department of Transportation.

After the first year drivers can be fined $30 for a violation, and up to $1,000 for causing a serious accident while texting.

Bower said Iowa State does not keep statistics on accidents caused by cell phones, but these incidents are relatively low because the speed limit on campus is only 25 mph.