Hands-free cell phone law effective July 1

A big change is coming to those who use their cell phones while driving.
Iowa is now the 31st state to enact a hands-free driving law, which makes certain types of cell phone usage illegal once the law takes effect on July 1. Red Oak Police Chief Justin Rhamy outlined how things will change.
“The previous law focused on texting while driving. With the old law, you could drive and talk on your phone. I’m not saying that talking on the phone didn’t cause any distraction, but if you were talking on the phone, you were holding the phone up to your ear, driving straight and looking straight forward. That was much less of a distraction than if you’re scrolling social media or looking at emails or texting and so on. Now the new law is banning handheld-use of cell phones and other electronic devices completely while driving unless they’re in hands-free or voice-activated mode,” Rhamy said.
From a personal standpoint, Rhamy felt a stronger change to the law regarding vehicle cell phone use was necessary.
“Cell phones are a huge distraction. I don’t have the exact numbers, but I would say they account for a good percentage of all accidents that occur, whether it be just a, minor accident to a major accident to even fatality accidents. It’s not just law enforcement that sees it, how many times just driving around do you meet people going the opposite direction and they’re looking down and not paying attention to the road, and you know that they’re looking at the phone. Will it be a good thing if we can get a good compliance rate? Yes, absolutely,” commented Rhamy.
Making things a little easier is the fact that many cars on the road have technology built in to help with hands-free use.
“There’s just so much technology out there that can assist the public with hands-free. A majority of cars from 2008 and newer have integrated, hands-free phone capabilities using Bluetooth or other wireless connections. so there’s plenty of technology out there that’s going to allow the traveling motorist to adequately abide by this new law,” Rhamy stated. “I’m sure some people will have issues. Maybe they don’t like to wear headsets, or AirPods or use the hands-free driving feature because in their mind, they can’t hear the person on the line as well, or the other person can’t hear them as well. We understand that, but your safety and the safety of the other motorists on the highway is ultimately the most important thing to consider. I’m sure many people may not have had an accident, but have had a close encounter or crossed the center line or nearly hit a parked car because they found themselves distracted by a cell phone at the wrong moment.”
For those that have cars that predate the built in hands-free technology, Rhamy said there are still some alternatives.
“There are headsets, for one. Also, I think anybody would be hard pressed to find somebody that doesn’t have a phone that’s going to connect to a Bluetooth device to be able to wirelessly transmit your call or whatever. There’s talk to text, or talk to email, and then when you get to the point where you need to send it, you can pull over briefly and read the context of what you need to send and then send it. If none of those options work, then you can just pull over, write the text or email you need to send, and then get back on the road. You can go online to a site like Amazon and buy a cheap headset for under $50 bucks. The new law is definitely harder on people with older cars, but they do still have some options, and ultimately, the motivation behind this new law being enacted is about the overall safety of the public.”
While there are other distractions in cars, such as radios or temperature controls, they aren’t nearly as dangerous as phones.
“From changing a radio station or even having the nomenclature of your radio, you can look straight forward and reach over and you’re going to find the radio knob to turn up your volume or change the station. You know where that button is to push from years of driving, and you can adjust that without being completely distracted. When you’re typing a text message, or you’re typing an email or a text, there’s so many focal points going on within your brain at that point,” advised Rhamy. “You’re playing out in your head what you’re trying to type out. You’re looking at your phone to make sure you’re spelling it correctly and that you got all the context of what you want in that message there. The length of time you’re distracted by a cell phone or any other handheld device is three times, if not greater than what changing a radio station or adjusting your air conditioning or heater is going to be. A lot of cars have updated steering wheels so that the controls to adjust radios are right on the wheel, making things even safer.”
Also, Rhamy said while the new law is more restrictive; there are exceptions to the rule as well.
“The law doesn’t affect utility employees in the scope of the work, public transit employees and stopped vehicles, two-way radios licensed by the FCC, farm equipment operators. Also, just to be clear, if there’s an emergency, you still have the capability of using your phone. I want all drivers to know that if there’s an emergency, don’t feel that you have to use some sort of hands-free device. If there is an emergency, pick up your phone, dial 9-1-1, and report the emergency. Don’t over think it, and don’t overcomplicate it,” Rhamy explained. “Also, it doesn’t apply to people receiving safety related information, whether it be emergency alerts or emergency notifications on their phone, be it weather, or amber alerts or any other emergency notifications that come in on their phone.”
Also, the law won’t apply to healthcare professionals, though situations where they’d be on their phones and driving are limited.
“Not often is the driver having to call in the report, but there are times that there is a very emergent situation in the back of the ambulance itself and the driver potentially may have to call in a report to the receiving healthcare facility. The final exemptions are for any public safety agencies performing official duties, transportation network companies, drivers engaged in prearranged rides while the vehicle’s not in motion, and then people using devices for fleet management systems. Those are a good majority of what the exceptions are,” Rhamy said.
When the law takes effect on July 1, Rhamy said drivers will have a bit of time to adjust to the new law.
“July 1, there’s going to be a six-month grace period for people to acclimate to the new law. That will also be a time period for law enforcement or public safety officials to reiterate the fact that we now have a hands-free law within the state of Iowa. There will be some grace given with that. Anyone caught driving and using their phone in a non-hands-free manner will be issued a warning during that time. It’s all about education, and trying to inform the public. Not everybody pays attention to the news. Not everybody reads the newspaper. Not everybody’s on social media. Everyone understands that, and we will be out there educating people as well,” Rhamy commented.
Effective on Jan 1, 2026, the grace period will end, and then anyone not using a hands-free method while driving will be issued a $100 citation, and it will include other fees as well. If you’re using a phone and cause an accident, Rhamy said you’ll face those fines as well.
“If the use of a cell phone results in a violation resulting in injury, like a motor vehicle accident, that’s a $500 fine. If you’re handling your phone and the accident results in death that is $1,000 fine. Depending on the case-by-case scenario and the elements of a crime that have to be met, if you’re using your phone and cause a traffic fatality and the elements of that crime are met for a charge of vehicular manslaughter, you could face that charge as well,” Rhamy stated.
Rhamy said the law change won’t impact thei police fleet too heavily, as all their patrol cars have a hands-free setup that they use a good majority of the time. Rhamy said anyone with any other questions can take advantage of the educational material out there, simply by going online and searching Iowa hands-free law.