When it’s wet, snowy, or icy, it can be tricky to see the painted lines on Iowa roads, potentially making it tough for you to see where you are on the road. Because “Safety First” is one of our core values, our team is constantly working to find better, more durable paint systems that will help you more clearly see paint lines in adverse weather conditions, improving your safety on the road. The focus of the Iowa DOT is the interstate system, U.S. and state highways, so our paint program is geared toward those roads.
When there is a crash, especially one that involves a large truck, every minute counts to get traffic moving again and keep you safer on the road. Research shows that for every minute that a lane is closed, the risk of another crash in the area goes up by 2.8 percent. At around 30 minutes, the chance of a second crash in the area is very high.
A new program in the Iowa City and Des Moines areas helps us fulfill one of our core values, “Safety First”, by clearing crashes more quickly, especially those involving large trucks, which reduces your risk of being involved in a second crash. The program offers incentives to towing companies to have specialized equipment ready to respond to commercial vehicle crashes.
The Iowa Department of Transportation’s 2,700 employees come from all walks of life and backgrounds. One thing we share is a core value of “Servant Leadership.” How this value plays out in everyday life varies, but it tends to spread throughout everything we do, both at work and at home.
Did you know that almost half of the people killed on Iowa roadways so far this year weren’t buckled up? These are real people who won’t be joining friends for dinner or picking up kids at daycare or making it home to feed the dog. They will never celebrate another birthday or holiday. The repercussions of just one death can have a ripple effect throughout families, communities, and beyond.
Why do we do it? We know exceeding the speed limit is illegal and dangerous, but we still manage to push the pedal down just a bit further when we’re in a hurry or we’re distracted or we think others are just going too slow.
It’s a mathematical fact that speeding won’t save you much time. A University of Sydney study collected data from 106 drivers over a period of five weeks. The results showed a surprisingly small amount of time saved by speeding, just 26 seconds a day and 2 minutes a week. More importantly, these savings come at a cost of considerable injuries and fatalities.