Fact Finder follows up to a story regarding Iowa legislation to ban the use of cell phones while driving.
OTTUMWA, IOWA -- State Representative Curt Hanson (D-Fairfield) is one of the co-sponsors of this legislation.
Hanson, a longtime Driver's Education Teacher, told Fact Finder that the bill to ban cell phones while driving is being altered to focus more on texting. He also added that the revised bill will have more safeguards in place.
The Representative added that he is certain this issue is something lawmakers can pass a bill on, and that it is one of the priorities of thee Safety Committee.
"This is something that I thought we had pretty well under control Thursday night. Then I discovered that we had not made a provision, to have people input their GPS information, into this bill. So I do not want somebody stopped for inputting information into a GPS system. Nor do I want anybody stopped and having their records of their cell phones or something opened up to the judiciary, or to the public," Representative Hanson said.
He added that national statistics show that people who text while driving, look away from the road for at least 6 or 7 seconds and could easily divert into an oncoming lane or drive off the road.
Hanson said that even if an overall ban is not passed, he would support a measure that would limit texting while driving.
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