XPost: alt.fan.states.iowa, comp.mobile.android, misc.phone.mobile.iphone   
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   From: nospam@ix.netcom.com   
      
   DES MOINES — Iowa Republican lawmakers say this could be the year they   
   finally ban motorists' handheld use of cellphones behind the wheel.   
      
   Law enforcement officials, advocates and grieving families of Iowans   
   killed by distracted drivers packed a Senate committee room Wednesday to   
   again implore lawmakers to ban motorists' handheld use of mobile devices   
   behind the wheel.   
      
   “There should never be any young person, or any person in this state, that   
   has to lose their life because someone chooses to text instead of drive,”   
   Judith Collora, of Mount Pleasant, told lawmakers. “Driving is a   
   privilege, and to choose to text instead of drive puts other people at   
   risk. So we ask you to pass it, and hope that we can save some lives and   
   save families the agony of losing their loved one. My daughter is never   
   going to call me again and say, ‘Love you, Mom.’”   
      
   Collora’s daughter was killed nine days after her 30th birthday in 2023 by   
   a driver distracted by his phone.   
      
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   A portrait and appreciation of Kristina Collora Pearson is seen in the   
   Honoring the Human Form art exhibit in the Schwartzkopf Gallery at the   
   Cherry Building in southeast Cedar Rapids on Sept. 27, 2023. The exhibit,   
   by the The Cedar Rapids Drawing Group, honors Kristina Collora Pearson,   
   one of the models depicted in the works who was killed in a car accident   
   at 30. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)   
   Kristina Pearson and her partner went out to buy house paint during the   
   afternoon of Aug. 7, 2023. As Pearson and Brown headed north on Boyrum   
   Street in Iowa City, Drake Brezina, then 24, stared down at his cellphone   
   as he drove his Chevrolet Silverado through a red light on Highway 6 —   
   slamming into Pearson’s driver’s side door. The crash ruptured her spleen,   
   tore her vertebral artery, fractured her skull, broke ribs and caused   
   extensive internal bleeding.   
      
   Physicians were able to keep Pearson’s heart beating for about two and a   
   half hours until the family could gather to say goodbye.   
      
   Brezina pleaded guilty, took responsibility for his distracted driving and   
   was sentenced to five years of supervised probation, with a requirement he   
   share his story as a warning of “the dangers of distracted driving,   
   texting and other forms of distracted and impaired driving as a major   
   problem in our society.”   
      
   Prosecutors requested the maximum 15 years in prison.   
      
   “We have to make the penalties more severe because, you know, if people   
   just can walk away from it, what is there to make them stop texting?”   
   Collora told reporters through tears.   
      
   She was accompanied by Berta Pearson, also of Mount Pleasant. Her   
   grandson, Pearson Franklin, a 20-year-old utility worker, was killed along   
   with a colleague in October 2022 while working on a bridge in Burlington.   
   The pair were placing construction barrels behind their stationary pickup   
   truck, which had its yellow construction lights on, when a driver   
   distracted by an app on her cellphone struck the two workers.   
      
   The driver, Emily Johnson, was found guilty of two counts of reckless   
   homicide and two counts of unlawful use of an electronic communication   
   device, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 30 months of probation.   
      
   “We have to do something. We can't let more kids die just because somebody   
   thought they needed to be on that silly phone,” Pearson said.   
      
   Bill would increase penalties for drivers caught using phone   
   A three-member subcommittee of Senate lawmakers voted unanimously   
   Wednesday to advance legislation that would make it illegal to use a phone   
   or mobile device while driving unless it's voice- activated or hands-free.   
      
   Senate File 22 would allow for mobile device use while driving only in   
   voice-activated or hands-free mode. Any hand-held use of a device while   
   driving would be prohibited.   
      
   The bill also would increase the scheduled fine for this violation from   
   $45 to $100 and would make it a moving violation that can be considered   
   for purposes of administrative suspension of a driver’s license or to   
   establish habitual offender status.   
      
   If serious injury or death occurs, the fine is $500 and $1,000,   
   respectively, and the driver’s license could be suspended.   
      
   The bill provides exceptions for first responders while on duty and health   
   care professionals in the course of emergency situations. It also provides   
   exceptions for receiving a weather or emergency alert, reporting an   
   emergency situation, for those operating farm machinery and for certain   
   radio operators and transit drivers.   
      
   Supporters, including bicyclists, motorcyclist, insurance companies,   
   automakers, law enforcement and others emphasized the bill's potential to   
   save lives.   
      
   They highlighted the need for clear legislation against texting and   
   driving.   
      
   State and local law enforcement officials say the state’s prohibition on   
   texting while driving, enacted in 2017, is nearly impossible to enforce   
   because drivers can say they instead were making a call or using the   
   device’s GPS, which still is allowed under current state law.   
      
   Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, raised concern about the bill's   
   exclusion of farm equipment.   
      
   “The DOT said that there were 1,000 crashes the Midwest involving farm   
   equipment and cars, and 30 deaths in Iowa with cars and farm equipment,”   
   Petersen said. “… I would hate for us to be sending a message that it's OK   
   for them to text” and drive farm equipment on the highway.   
      
   “I'm happy to sign off on the bill, but I hope that maybe we can keep our   
   thoughts open as to making sure that everyone's safe, no matter where they   
   live, in rural or urban areas,” she said.   
      
   Distracted driving crashes have increased by 43 percent over the last   
   decade, according to Iowa Department of Transportation crash data.   
      
   There were 351 traffic-related deaths in Iowa in 2024, down from the 378   
   deaths in 2023, but still high compared to previous years. Wrong-way   
   drivers, high speeds, unbuckled seat belts and distracted driving have   
   contributed to those high numbers, according to the Iowa State Patrol.   
      
   With governor’s support, bill’s backers say ‘this could be the year’   
   Bills limiting cellphone use by mandating voice-activated or hands-free   
   technology while driving have been introduced in the Iowa Legislature   
   since 2019, but all attempts at passage have been unsuccessful.   
      
   The legislation overwhelmingly passed the Iowa Senate in 2023, but the   
   Iowa House hit the brakes. It failed to advance during last year’s   
   legislative session, after the proposal was combined with legislation that   
      
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