Chronicle Editorial

Another great season
 
    Hampton-Dumont fans hardly had time to catch their breath after an exciting gridiron season this fall. Winter sports teams picked up right where the football squad left off, giving Bulldog Nation yet another victory-filled effort that didn’t go unnoticed.
    Their hard work culminated in an exciting Saturday this past weekend when the girls’ basketball team competed for a state tournament berth and two wrestlers contended for a pair of championships in Des Moines. Their efforts came up just short, but that doesn’t take away from an awesome season. The girls finished 20-3 and co-champions of the North Central Conference, while wrestlers Kendrick Suntken and Mario Peña were runners-up in their respective weight brackets. Not too shabby.
    We appreciate their efforts and wish them the best of luck in the future. These past few months have been extremely fun for H-D fans, and it’s great to see local student athletes represent our communities in such upstanding fashion. They’ve been the talk of the town for nearly four months and their achievements are no fluke.
    It’s great to be a Bulldog!
 
Proposal adds teeth to distracted driving laws in Iowa
 
    Cell phones are everywhere nowadays. Whether we’re at work, school or driving in the car, it seems like these distracting devices have infiltrated nearly every part of our daily lives no matter the situation.
    A proposal in the Iowa Legislature hopes to crack down on that heavy usage, particularly on the road. Public safety officials have urged lawmakers to introduce and pass legislation that would ban all handheld cellphone calls on the roadway. They claim stronger policies would reduce distracted driving across the state, in turn lowering the amount of accidents and traffic fatalities.
    Iowa’s current distracted driving laws are notoriously lackluster. Drivers are banned from texting, but it’s only a secondary offense. That means an officer can’t pull over a suspected texting driver unless they’ve committed some other violation first. That’s pretty ambiguous, and it makes the law nearly unenforceable.
    Adopting a new policy that builds on the existing law seems like a positive development for public safety. According to national statistics, distracted drivers are responsible for 1,100 crash-related injuries and nine deaths each day. It’s clear cell phones interfere with our ability to drive, and ramping up penalties for individuals that endanger others seems like a no-brainer.
    Nonetheless, stiffer cell phone driving laws won’t be a cure-all solution to our reckless driving behaviors. National ad campaigns have made almost everyone aware that using your cell phone behind the wheel can have life-changing repercussions. Stronger distracted driving laws that crack down on those bad habits are a welcomed development for road safety; however, it takes a concerted effort from motorists to put away the cell phone and be better drivers. A new law won’t stop all roadway cell phone usage, but a hefty fine might facilitate changes a little quicker here in Iowa if lawmakers choose to move forward with legislation.