Message Monday - Take the high road. Move over or slow down
It’s never wrong to do the right thing. As you’ve hopefully heard by now, Iowa law was expanded July 1 to require every driver to move over or slow down whenever you approach a parked vehicle displaying flashing lights. That means if you see law enforcement, maintenance crews, utility workers, or just someone with a flat tire who has emergency flashers on, you need to move over if possible or slow down to a speed where you can safely pass the stopped vehicle.
On July 5 a truck carrying concrete beams blew a tire on I-35 near the Iowa 210 exit. The truck became disabled on the left side of the road. The driver turned on the vehicle’s hazard lights and put out his emergency triangles. As you’ll see in this video, many people responded correctly and moved to the other lane. Unfortunately, one truck didn’t. Everyone on the road that day was fortunate that there were no serious injuries in this crash –
So next time you see a vehicle on the side of the road, no matter what it is, take the high road and move over if you can or slow down to safely pass.
For 2018, there have been 157 fatalities reported. That’s an increase of six since last Monday. To see statistics published daily by the Office of Driver Services, go to the daily fatality report at https://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/stats/daily.pdf