New laws take effect Thursday

    The Iowa Legislature passed a number of new laws that take effect this Thursday. Among them is a law that requires people under the age of 18 to wear a seatbelt in the backseat of a car.

    The previous law mandated seatbelt use in the backseat only for children under 11 years of age. Drivers and front-seat passengers must wear a seatbelt no matter their age. Another change in the law is that if a passenger over 14 violates the law, the passenger is charged with the crime and not the driver. The penalty is a fine of $50 plus $60 in court costs and a surcharge of $17.50, for a total of $127.50.

    Another new law deals with the forfeiture of guns. If a person is charged with domestic assault, law enforcement may confiscate that person?s weapons. Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar said that the new state law merely reflects an existing federal law concerning firearm forfeiture. Dunbar said that law enforcement may also confiscate firearms from a person who pleads guilty to assault in connection to a domestic abuse case.

    Dunbar said that if the person charged with domestic assault is found not guilty or the charges are dismissed, the firearms are returned to that person. He said that if the person is found guilty, his weapons are not returned to him and he is barred from purchasing firearms in the future.

    The use of cellular telephones while driving is also going to be regulated in the future. Drivers under the age of 18 will not be permitted to talk on cell phones, read or send text messages, or use any other similar electronic devices while driving, unless it is installed in the vehicle. Drivers 18 and over may not use electronic devices to read, write or send text messages, but will still be allowed to talk on their phones.

    The penalty for an infraction will be a $30 fine, and will be harsher if the person is in a car accident involving serious injury. However, the fines will not go into effect until July 1, 2011. For the next year, law enforcement will issue warning citations to drivers caught breaking the law.

    Dunbar said law enforcement officers may not pull over a texting driver simply because they think suspect the driver is under 18. He said the officer must have prior knowledge of the driver?s age in order to pull the driver over for using a cell phone. He said that even if an officer spots an adult texting while driving, the officer may not stop the person. The driver must be suspected of breaking some other law, such as a moving violation, in order for an officer to stop him. If the officer has reason to believe the driver violated the ban on texting (or cell phone use for minors), the officer can write an additional citation for that once the driver has been stopped for the other offense.   

For more, see our June 25 print edition.