Fines kick in for hands-free driving law

Editor's note: This story first ran in July, at the beginning of a six-month, warning-only period for a new state law prohibiting drivers from some cell phone uses.

In July 2025, Iowa became the 31st state with a hands-free driving law. It prohibits drivers from using cell phones or other electronic devices -- such as tablets or laptops -- while driving unless they are in a hands-free (single touch) or voice command mode.

Transportation services manager Jeremy Paul said more than 90% of the 650 university fleet vehicles are equipped with Bluetooth® hands-free technology. A smaller set of 2023 and newer vehicles also can connect with CarPlay (Apple phones) or Auto (Android phones), which mirror features of the driver's smartphone on the dashboard display, such as navigational mapping and phone calling, accessed through Siri voice control.

Paul said university drivers are familiar with the technology, and he believes most won't need to alter their driving behavior to comply with the law.

"A significant number of our employees use it. I know this because I see them out here in our lots, programming their phones before they leave," he said. 

And when they have difficulty connecting their phones to Bluetooth, drivers go back inside and ask for help. His team members are happy to sit with them in the car and help get their device connected, he said.

And while Paul isn't interested in playing Big Brother to university drivers, he does hope they appreciate the merits of the law.

"There's nothing urgent enough to drive distracted. If you must use your phone to take care of something that can't wait, pull over," he advised. "It's not about the repercussions of getting caught using your device while driving; it's the repercussions if something happens because you were driving and using your phone."

Approximately 75% of university vehicles are in long-term department leases. Paul said his team can add after-market kits to vehicles as needed.

"We upfit vehicles for departments all the time. If employees with a department-leased vehicle older than 2023 tell us they want CarPlay in the vehicle, we'll get it in there for them," he said.

Safer roads

According to the Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau, under Iowa's "hands free" law, drivers can't:

• Hold a phone
• Scroll, swipe or type on a phone
• Call or text -- unless using voice commands or hands-free (single-tap) technology
• Make video calls (even with voice commands)
• Read texts
• View videos or social media
• Access gaming data

Through December, patrol officers issued a warning to drivers who violated the hands-free driving law. Beginning Jan. 1, drivers observed not complying with the law will be charged with a moving violation, a simple misdemeanor with a $100 fine. A driver who causes a serious injury while using their device illegally could pay a $500 fine and even have their driver's license suspended. A driver whose unlawful electronics use causes a death will pay a $1,000 fine.

Moving billboards

University drivers put nearly eight million miles on Iowa State vehicles last year, "hundreds of small billboards moving all over the state," observed Paul.

He knows Iowa taxpayers are paying attention, because he takes the occasional phone call when one doesn't like what they see: A driver in a university car following too closely, one who failed to signal a lane change, or one who's talking on a cell phone and inattentive to their driving.

"Our university has a strong reputation in this state. Our driving behavior is a piece of that," he said.