During the 2025 Iowa Legislative Session, lawmakers passed a bill that Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law that deals with hands free and distracted driving.
Iowa State Patrol Trooper Shelby McCreedy says the new law helps make enforcement of hands free driving easier for law enforcement, by making it so that drivers cannot manually handle their phones once the bill is in place, only make calls on it via Bluetooth or through the vehicle, and use navigation apps, but only if it is brought up before the vehicle is turned on and in motion. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio that there will be a learning period for drivers after the bill has gone into effect.
“With the introduction of this legislation, there is going to be a grace period that is going to be from July 1st until January 1st of 2026, where law enforcement will still stop motorists for violating the new legislation. However, it’s going to be more of an educational traffic stop, you’ll get a warning. Law enforcement will articulate the changes, what you can do, what you can’t do, what the violation was. So that way the public has an opportunity to learn about the law, to adapt to the new legislation, and to modify their behavior behind the wheel. So no tickets will be issued until January 1st of 2026.”…