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NOW. A BILL TO BAN CELL PHONE USE WHILE DRIVING ADVANCED THROUGH A HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE TODAY. ITS EXCEPTION WOULD BE HANDS FREE DEVICES. THE BILL HAS BEEN DEBATED DURING A NUMBER OF LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS, BUT LAWMAKERS HAVE JUST NEVER MANAGED TO PASS IT INTO LAW. ����vlog BO BOWMAN IS LIVE AT THE STATE HOUSE TONIGHT. BO YOU SPOKE WITH ONE IOWAN, HOPING IT CAN PASS THIS YEAR? YEAH. BEN. STACIE. KRISTI CARSTENSEN HAS BEEN COMING HERE TO THE STATE HOUSE FOR YEARS. SHE LOST HER HUSBAND AND HER MOTHER IN LAW IN A CAR CRASH CAUSED BY A DISTRACTED DRIVER TEN YEARS AGO. AND SHE’S BEEN COMING HERE EVER SINCE URGING LAWMAKERS TO PASS THIS BILL. SHE’S HOPEFUL THAT THIS YEAR IS THE YEAR. I DON’T WANT TO SEE ANYONE ELSE HURT. I DON’T WANT OTHER PEOPLE TO LOSE FAMILY MEMBERS. THAT’S THE MESSAGE. KRISTI CARSTENSEN HAD FOR LAWMAKERS TUESDAY, AS THEY DISCUSSED HOUSE BILL 64, THE HANDS FREE CELL PHONE BILL, IN A SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING APPROVING IT TO FULL COMMITTEE. THE LEGISLATURE DID PASS A SIMILAR BILL IN 2017, BANNING TEXTING AND DRIVING, BUT IT STILL ALLOWED FOR ALL OTHER CELL PHONE USE. THIS VERSION PROHIBITS ALL CELL PHONE USE WHILE DRIVING UNLESS IT IS HANDS FREE. IT’S BEEN BROUGHT UP IN THE LEGISLATURE FOR YEARS, BUT HAS NEVER GATHERED ENOUGH SUPPORT TO GET TO THE GOVERNOR’S DESK. BOTTOM LINE IS, IT’S GOING TO SAVE LIVES. TUESDAY, REPRESENTATIVE ANN MEYER, A REPUBLICAN FROM FORT DODGE, SAYS THAT IN YEARS PAST, THE BILL FACED CRITICISM FROM THE MORE LIBERTARIAN FACTION OF THE IOWA GOP, SAYING IT INFRINGES ON IOWANS INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS. WE HAVE THE FREEDOM TO BE ON THE ROAD AND NOT BE KILLED BY ANOTHER DRIVER. MEYER BELIEVES THE BILL NOW HAS ENOUGH SUPPORT TO PASS. THIS YEAR, IT WAS A PRIORITY IN GOVERNOR REYNOLDS CONDITION OF THE STATE ADDRESS. IT ALSO HAS THE THUMBS UP FROM NEARLY EVERY LAW ENFORCEMENT ORGANIZATION ACROSS THE STATE. THEY POINT TO DATA FROM THE IOWA DOT SHOWING NOT ONLY THE NUMBER OF CRASHES GROWING EACH YEAR, BUT CRASHES CAUSED BY A DISTRACTED DRIVER IS INCREASING, TOO. EVERYBODY BENEFITS FROM THIS. WAUKEE POLICE CHIEF CHAD MCCLUSKY REPRESENTS THE IOWA POLICE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION. HE SAYS WHEN THESE HANDS FREE LAWS HAVE BEEN PUT INTO EFFECT IN OTHER STATES, THEY SEE HUGE RESULTS. MINNESOTA I BELIEVE IT WAS PASSED A SIMILAR LAW THE FIRST YEAR. THEY SAW A 30% REDUCTION IN TRAFFIC CRASHES. I BELIEVE IT WAS. ILLINOIS PASSED A SIMILAR LAW THE FIRST YEAR. THEY SAW A 22% REDUCTION IN TRAFFIC CRASHES. FOR CARSTENSEN AND HER FAMILY, THEY KNOW IT WON’T FILL THE VOID LEFT BEHIND, BUT HOPES IT CAN KEEP OTHERS FROM LOSING THEIR LOVED ONES ON THE ROAD. IF WE COULD HELP ONE FAMILY NOT GO THROUGH THIS, IT’S WORTH EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD. JUST PASSED OUT OF SUBCOMMITTEE TODAY, SO IT STILL HAS A WAYS TO GO BEFORE IT REACHES THE GOVERNOR’S DESK. SO WE’RE GOING TO BE SURE TO KEEP AN EYE ON IT THROUGHOUT THE SESSION AND SEE IF THIS YEAR IS, IN FACT, THE YEAR THE LEGISLATURE GETS IT DONE. WE’RE LIVE IN D