When I meet new people and they ask me what I do, I sometimes get mixed reactions to my answer. If we are in the middle of winter, the reaction is often, “Tell your crews thanks for keeping the roads open.” During the summer construction season, the reaction often is friendly advice on which roads are most in need of repair. In any scenario, I am quick to point out that safety is at the heart of everything we do at the Iowa DOT.
This segment of the Transportation Matters for Iowa blog is a space where Iowa DOT employees can share family milestones with their co-workers. Celebrating life events like the birth of a new baby, a wedding, retirement or other personal news brings us closer together as an Iowa DOT family. If you are an employee and want to submit information for this section, please click on the "submit a story" link in the upper right corner or contact the correspondent in your office or work location.
Americans love to celebrate the Fourth of July with family, friends, food and fireworks, but all too often the festivities turn tragic on the nation's roads.
The fact is, this iconic American holiday is also one of the deadliest holidays of the year due to drunk-driving crashes.
According to data from NHTSA, during July 4th holiday period over the last five years (from 2008 to 2012), 765 people lost their lives in crashes involving drivers with a BAC of .08 or more. These fatalities account for 40 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities over this same five-year period.
For many Iowa Department of Transportation employees, the work performed everyday can be very dangerous. Over the years, 36 Iowa DOT workers have been killed in the line of duty. Recently, Governor Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, and about 200 guests attended a ceremony to dedicate an employee memorial at the Iowa DOT headquarters in Ames.
Everyone’s in a hurry these days. We think we have the ability to multi-task, but we are just fooling ourselves. Driving a vehicle commands your full attention all the time, so put the phone down and drive. You cannot do two things at once and be perfect with both of them. It is not just your life, but others around you are affected by your actions.
A good example of how distracting texting can be is shown in this video.
Web-based training is a great way for Iowa DOT employees to keep up on the latest trends, brush up on skills, or pick up new information. There are a number of Web-based courses available that can be viewed anytime. Once you have your supervisor’s approval, simply go to the Iowa DOT’s training website at: http://www.iowadot.gov/training/index.html.
Since she was 12 years old, Nancy Loney has trusted the Iowa City area transit systems to get her anywhere she needed to go. Nancy, who is set to retire at the end of the year from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics after 47 years of service, still relies on the bus every day.
As many of you know, Iowa has a “Move Over” law to protect emergency and maintenance workers. The law was put in place to protect occupants of any official vehicle that is pulled off the road and is displaying with a red, blue or amber flashing light. This protective measure includes police, fire, rescue, tow trucks, DOT, city, county, and contractor vehicles. In the course of their busy lives, motorists can lose track of the fact that the roadway can be a workplace, too. The people working on our transportation system are performing critical tasks that keep you moving.
So keep a safe distance away to allow them to safely go about the jobs.
This tow truck driver thought he would be safe behind a DOT truck with an arrow board, and he still got clipped because a motorists failed to “Move Over”.http://youtu.be/kDCi1TXZdMM
Guest blog by Director Paul Trombino III