Iowa has had a ban on texting and driving since July 1, 2010, but almost five years later, the number of injuries and deaths from accidents related to distracted driving has risen. 

According to the Iowa Code, “a person shall not use a hand-held electronic communication device to write, send, or read a text message while driving a motor vehicle unless the motor vehicle is at a complete stop off the traveled portion of the roadway.”

Iowa Code prohibits a police officer from stopping or detaining a person “solely for a suspected violation of this section.” 

In 2009, the year before Iowa’s new law was signed by former governor Chet Culver, there were 761 crashes in Iowa caused by drivers being distracted by a device, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. Those crashes ranged from damage-only to fatal crashes.

The DOT has provided preliminary data for 2014, while full statistics are available up to 2013. The 2014 preliminary numbers show the accidents have risen since 2013.

The DOT says there were 768 crashes in 2014. The types of damage in distracted-driving related accidents ranges from minor to major and remains very close in numbers. Out of 769 crashes in 2013, 328 caused injuries. The DOT said four fatalities occurred because of distracted driving.

In Iowa, the ban on texting and driving is a secondary offense, meaning law enforcement in Iowa cannot stop a person solely for texting and driving. Officers must notice another offense, like speeding or swerving between lanes, to stop a person before they can be ticketed for texting.

Ames Police Cmdr. Jason Tuttle said since the ban is a secondary offense, it causes problems for officers trying to crack down on texting because most drivers will not admit that they were using their phone while driving.

“When we investigate an accident, we’ll try to say, ‘okay, were you either talking on your phone when the accident occurred or texting on your phone?’ Or we’ll ask the other person if they were distracted on their phone,” Tuttle said. “So we try to get that when we investigate accidents because it’s hard for us to prove some of those. We think there are probably a larger amount of accidents that occur because people are on their phones.”

Pat Hoye, chief of the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, said he believes that the four recorded fatalities relating to accidents where drivers were distracted while using cell phones may be misleading because of the secondary offense classification. Texting may lead to accidents, but they are considered a different type of crash because it is not known that texting was the cause.

“One of the things we noticed is that over 60 percent of fatalities in Iowa were lane departures, meaning the driver drove off the road or crossed the center line,” Hoye said. “We are convinced there is a correlation between distracted driving and lane departures.”

Any changes, including making texting and driving a primary offense, would require the Iowa legislature to pass changes and get a signature from the governor.

“We’re thinking if a law can get people to stop texting, if it would be handsfree, those types of crashes would go down,” Hoye said. “When those types of crashes go down, your fatalities will go down.”

However, the danger doesn’t end at texting and driving. Tuttle said another thing police see is students walking and texting, especially in a college town.

“We’ve also seen around campus where young people walk around on their phone with their head down and then they walk out in front of cars, as well,” Tuttle said. “We certainly want drivers to be careful, but we also want people who are using their phones while walking across four-way roads to take out their earphones and look up.”

Even though Iowa law bans texting while driving, it is still legal to talk on your phone, even without a hands-free device.

“You can talk on the phone. It is legal, but we would encourage people, if you’re going to talk on your phone, to find a safe place to do it. It does take your attention away from operating your car,” Tuttle said.

Even as students across Iowa and the United States have been told repeatedly not to text while they drive, Hoye said it continues.

“I guess the thing I would ask is when is the last time you truly [received] a really important text message?” Hoye said when asked about advice. “They’re not. There is nothing you’re receiving on that, that is worth risking your life for.”