A bill that would give state and local law enforcement officers who stop a vehicle going over 100 MPH authority to immediately take that driver’s license away is working its way through the Iowa Senate. Senator Mark Lofgren says state troopers, police and county sheriff’s departments ticketed about two-thousand drivers last year who were caught driving at triple digit speed.
A spokesman for the Iowa State Patrol says troopers have recorded vehicles going 142, 151 and even 164 MPH. Lofgren says the data about excessive driving is alarming.
Under Lofgren’s bill, the officer would take the driver’s license, give the motorist a temporary 10-day license and send driver’s license to the DOT. The Iowa DOT would be required to revoke that person’s driver’s license for 30 days, once the paperwork is processed. There would be an appeals process for the driver. Lofgren, a Republican from Muscatine, notes that for the past seven and a half years he backed a bill to make it illegal for motorists to have a cell phone in their hand while driving.
Lofgren’s bill also would classify going 20 miles or more over the posted limit as reckless driving and make the crime a simple misdemeanor.
