Archives: August 2024
Roadside Chat – Drive High – Get OWI
August 30, 2024
It doesn’t matter what term you use — high, stoned, or wasted. It also doesn’t matter if the substance was legally or illegally obtained. Getting behind the wheel after using any type of substance that can impair you is extremely dangerous. In every U.S. state and territory, it is illegal to drive under the influence of drugs — no exceptions.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration here are some ways that substances can impair your ability to drive.
- Alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs can slow coordination, judgment, and reaction times.
- Cocaine and methamphetamine can make drivers more aggressive and reckless.
- Using two or more drugs at the same time, including alcohol, can amplify the impairing effects of each drug a person has consumed.
- Some prescription and over-the-counter medicinescan cause extreme drowsiness, dizziness, and other side effects. Read and follow all warning labels before driving, and note that warnings against “operating heavy machinery” include driving a vehicle.
Roadside Chat – Drive chill - be cool. Kids are back in school
August 23, 2024
Today marks the first day of school for many Iowa students. As kids and their parents settle back into their routines the roads might look a bit different than they did during the summer months. While most people think of encountering school traffic in the city, near schools, you need to be school-aware in residential areas and out in the country.
Even if you aren’t personally a part of the school traffic, you still need to be aware of the changes happening around you.
Personnel updates for Aug. 2 to Aug. 15, 2024
August 22, 2024
Roadside Chat – Chips & dips. Tailgating may add both to your car.
August 16, 2024
This weekend wraps up the Iowa State Fair which means tailgating season is right around the corner! A snack staple for tailgate parties is chips and dips. While delicious in your belly, they aren’t so great when they end up on your car.
One way to avoid chips and dips on your car is to leave the tailgating to football parking lots and keep it off the highway. Tailgating falls into the category of aggressive driving which according to AAA, also includes speeding in heavy traffic, cutting in front of another driver and then slowing down, running red lights, weaving in and out of traffic, changing lanes without signaling, and blocking cars attempting to pass or change lanes.
Roadside Chat – Got fair fever? Eat a pork chop & buckle your ham.
August 9, 2024
Today marks day number two of an Iowa tradition, the State Fair. According to the Fair’s website, “Fair Fever is contagious and only a prescription of Fair food, games, rides, competition, and over-the top entertainment will cure it.”
Personnel updates for July 19 to Aug. 1, 2024
August 8, 2024
Roadside Chat – Track speed wins gold. Road speed wins a ticket.
August 2, 2024
The Olympics are in full swing and at the time of this writing America was in second place for the highest number of gold medals. This weekend’s schedule is filled with various track and field events where pushing for faster and faster speeds can win you a shot at a gold medal.
Unfortunately, speeding while behind the wheel will not earn you the same accolades. It could easily earn you a ticket or worse, have deadly consequences.