It’s an all too common sight on Iowa roads: a driver with a phone pressed to their ear, chatting away while their vehicle weaves in and out of its lane.

Such action could be the beginning of a crash and, in a worst case scenario, a tragedy.

Just how bad is this kind of distracted driving situation? The Iowa Department of Transportation recently posted preliminary numbers for 2021 that answer that question.

According to those statistics, there were 1,084 crashes in Iowa that year caused by people distracted by an electronic device. Those crashes killed 11 people and injured at least 469 others.

For three years now, state Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge, has introduced a bill intended to help stop that carnage. Her proposal would prohibit talking on a handheld phone while driving or using any other electronic device while behind the wheel unless it is in a hands-free or voice activated mode. Meyer is introducing that bill again this year.

We think it’s past time for it to be approved.

We urge the Legislature to pass this potentially life-saving bill this year and we call on Gov. Kim Reynolds to sign it into law.

Meyer has told The Messenger previously that she believes the threat posed by talking on the phone while driving is so obvious that there shouldn’t even have to be a discussion about it. “There is no reason not to get this done,” she said. We agree.

The bill calls for a $100 fine for violations.

We realize that drivers who are on a hands-free or voice activated phone can become so distracted that they could end up crashing. But we believe people looking at their phones, driving with just one hand on the steering wheel, or worse neither hand on the wheel, is a far greater hazard. Meyer’s bill would address that hazard, so it should become the law of Iowa.