(Radio Iowa) – Starting Tuesday, July 1st, it will be illegal for Iowa motorists to hold a cell phone, scroll through it or watch videos on it while driving. Sergeant Alex Dinkla is the spokesman for the Iowa State Patrol. “This new ‘hands free’ law says exactly that. Get that phone out of that hand. Find another place for it,” Dinkla says. “From July 1 to December 31 the Iowa State Patrol and many other law enforcement folks throughout the state of Iowa will be using that as a six-month educational period to educate both drivers and the public of what this new law means.”

A 2017 Iowa law has banned texting while driving, but Dinkla says it’s been hard to enforce because drivers were allowed to handle their phones to make calls or fiddle with digital maps for navigation. That changes July 1st.  “We know that there’s a rising trend with people using technology and these devices going down the road rather than paying attention and focusing,” Dinkla says. “We need to all remember we’ve got to get back to the basics. We need to retrain our mind to put that phone down and eliminate those distractions.” If a vehicle doesn’t have “hands-free” techology, Dinkla says there are ways to adapt.

“We don’t need people to run out and buy the latest, greatest, most expensive vehicle just so that they can comply with this law,” Dinkla says. “There are simple low cost or even no cost ways to comply with this.” There are small Bluetooth transmitters that can be installed in vehicles that don’t have the technology. The law allows for one-touch activation, so Dinkla says you could buy a cell phone holder and answer calls in speaker mode. However, Dinkla says the best option is having the phone in “do not disturb” mode while driving.

“Take away that distraction, take away that temptation,” Dinkla says, “so that when you get to your safe location and you’re able to pull over, out of the way of traffic, check those notifications and respond at that time.” Starting January 1st, the fine for handling a cell phone while driving will be 100 dollars.

Fines escalate if there’s an accident causing serious injury or death. There are some exemptions in the bill for people like bus drivers, emergency responders and people driving farm machinery.