DES MOINES, Iowa — A new law now in effect is changing Iowans’ phone habits while driving. The hands-free legislation took effect on Tuesday, meaning you can no longer hold your phone, type in an address, or scroll through messages while behind the wheel. And the cycling community is calling the legislation a win for their safety.

Following the implementation of the law, the Iowa Bicycle Coalition announced the launch of a new program called Safe Roads Iowa, which aims to educate drivers on how they can create safer roadways for everyone, specifically cyclists.

The coalition has a goal of raising $100,000 by 2026 for the new program, and says the hands-free legislation is just one step in the right direction.

“There are going to be two policies that we pursue in the next legislative session that I think is going to have an extended impact on roadway safety as well to help reinforce this law that we just got passed. So, that is a safe passing law which would be specific to cyclists. So, we know that there are only six states in the U.S. that don’t have a safe passing law, and Iowa is one of them. It’s the number one reason why cyclists are injured and killed is because folks are passing too closely, and there’s not a defined reasonable distance. Secondly, the super speeders legislation, which was just passed in Washington and in Georgia. And what it does is it has enhanced penalties on folks who are excessively speeding,” said Luke Hoffman, executive director for the Iowa Bicycle Coalition.

Hoffman says there are ways for people to support the campaign, either through purchasing the share the road license plate through the Iowa DOT, or donating directly to the Safe Roads Iowa campaign here.

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