Texting and distracted driving laws in Iowa

Iowa recorded 52,680 reported traffic crashes in 2025,¹ and the state is still logging thousands every month, including 3,824 in June 2026.² Plenty of those wrecks begin the same way, with a driver glancing at a phone instead of the road. As of January 2026, that choice carries a real fine in Iowa, and it can change who pays when someone gets hurt. Here is what the law actually says, and what it means for your case.

What Iowa's hands-free law bans

Iowa rewrote its distracted driving statute in 2025. Senate File 22, signed into law on April 2, 2025,³ and codified at Iowa Code 321.276, scrapped the old texting-only rule and put a full hands-free standard in its place.⁴ While you are driving, you cannot use an electronic device unless the vehicle is stopped and off the traveled portion of the road.⁴ The statute defines "use" as holding, viewing, or manipulating the device, so the ban reaches well past typing out a text.⁴

In practice, with the car in motion you cannot hold your phone, type or scroll, enter GPS coordinates by hand, stream or watch video, or place a call by tapping the screen.⁴ The only legal way to touch a device is voice-activated or hands-free mode, which the law defines as using a verbal command or a single touch to start or stop a function.⁴ Phone mounts, Bluetooth, speakerphone, and voice command systems are all allowed.⁵

Hands-free is not a loophole for everything. The statute states plainly that voice-activated or hands-free mode does not cover watching non-navigation video, joining a video call, video streaming, gaming, or reading a message or notification.⁴ So even with your phone locked in a dashboard mount, reading an incoming text while you drive is still a violation. Built-in navigation is fine only if you enter the destination before the vehicle starts moving.⁴

The timeline, the fine, and what an officer can do

The law took effect July 1, 2025, but it opened with a grace period. Through December 31, 2025, officers could only issue written warnings.⁵ That warning provision was written to repeal itself on January 1, 2026, and it did.⁴ Since that date, Iowa drivers face real citations.

A standard violation is a simple misdemeanor and a moving violation, with a scheduled fine of $100, up from the old $45 texting fine.⁶³ That $100 is the scheduled fine alone; court costs and the state surcharge push the real total higher. The number rises sharply once someone is hurt. Under Iowa Code 321.482A, a violation that causes a serious injury carries a $500 fine and up to a 90-day license suspension, and one that causes a death carries a $1,000 fine and up to a 180-day suspension.⁷ If a driver kills or seriously injures someone while using a device, Iowa Code 707.6A can turn the crash into a much more serious criminal charge.⁸⁴

This is primary enforcement, so an officer can pull you over for handheld phone use alone, with no other reason needed for the stop.⁹ One limit on police: the statute bars an officer from confiscating your device.⁴

Enforcement is not theoretical. The Iowa Department of Public Safety reported that in the first months of 2026, officers issued more than 3,600 citations and 3,100 warnings under the law, and a single statewide push from April 6 to 10, 2026 produced 551 citations and 329 warnings in five days.⁹

Who is exempt

The exceptions are narrow. Section 321.276 carves out on-duty public safety officers, health care professionals during an emergency, anyone reporting an emergency or receiving a weather or safety alert, and licensed amateur radio operators.⁴ Transit workers, utility crews, and rideshare drivers get limited exceptions tied to specific conditions, as do farmers operating an implement of husbandry.⁴ For an ordinary commuter, none of these apply.

What it means if a distracted driver hit you

Iowa handles crashes on a fault basis, so the driver who caused the wreck, along with that driver's insurer, is responsible for the harm. A driver who broke 321.276 and then hit you has violated a traffic safety law, and that violation is strong evidence the driver was negligent. Phone records, in-car data, and the officer's report can all help prove it, and you can request that report through our Iowa crash reports page. The sooner that evidence is locked down, the harder it is for the other driver to later claim they were watching the road.

Fault is not all-or-nothing. Iowa follows modified comparative fault under Iowa Code 668.3: you can still recover as long as your share of the blame is not greater than the combined fault of the drivers you are suing, and any damages are reduced by your own percentage.¹⁰ Cross that line, meaning more than half the fault lands on you, and you recover nothing.¹⁰ Showing that the other driver was on a phone can push their share of fault up and protect what you collect.

Timing matters just as much. You generally have two years from the crash date to file a personal injury or wrongful death suit under Iowa Code 614.1(2), and five years for vehicle or property damage under 614.1(4).¹¹ Miss the deadline and the claim is gone, no matter how clear the other driver's fault.

One more Iowa detail worth knowing. The state's minimum liability limits are just 20/40/15, which is $20,000 per person and $40,000 per crash for injuries and $15,000 for property damage.¹² A seriously injured victim can blow past those numbers quickly. That is why uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage matters: Iowa Code 516A.1 builds it into every auto policy unless you reject it in writing, and it can fill the gap when an at-fault driver carries too little.¹³ If your vehicle lost resale value after the repair, that is a separate claim, and you can read how it works on our Iowa diminished value page.

If a distracted driver hit you and you are weighing your options, you can start by finding an attorney through our legal directory.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. thatcarhitme.com, Iowa 2025 statewide crash report. https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/2025-annual-report

2. thatcarhitme.com, Iowa June 2026 crash report. https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/iowa/statewide/june-2026-report

3. Iowa Senate File 22 (2025), 91st General Assembly. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGI/91/SF22.pdf

4. Iowa Code 321.276, Use of electronic device while driving. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/321.276.pdf

5. Iowa Department of Public Safety, "Hands-Free, It's the Law." https://dps.iowa.gov/press-release/2025-06-25/hands-free-its-law

6. Iowa Code 805.8A, Motor vehicle and transportation scheduled violations. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/805.8A.pdf

7. Iowa Code 321.482A, Violations causing serious injury or death, additional penalties. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/321.482A.pdf

8. Iowa Code 707.6A, Homicide or serious injury by vehicle. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/707.6A.pdf

9. Iowa Department of Public Safety, "Statewide Hands-Free Traffic Enforcement Results" (April 14, 2026). https://dps.iowa.gov/press-release/2026-04-14/statewide-hands-free-traffic-enforcement-results

10. Iowa Code 668.3, Comparative fault. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/668.3.pdf

11. Iowa Code 614.1, Limitations of actions. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/614.1.pdf

12. Iowa Code 321A.21, Motor vehicle liability policy defined. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/321A.21.pdf

13. Iowa Code 516A.1, Coverage included in every liability policy. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/516A.pdf