Strategic Highway Safety Plan outlines strategies to reduce crashes on Iowa roadways

October 14, 2019

When you leave your home, get into your car, and set a course for a certain destination, you expect to have a safe trip on reliable roads and bridges. That expectation only happens with a lot of behind-the-scenes planning from a network of professionals who use a variety of tools.

One of the tools traffic safety professionals use is a Strategic Highway Safety Plan. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, an SHSP is a “statewide coordinated safety plan that provides a comprehensive framework for reducing fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads.”

The Iowa DOT has long been a national leader in traffic safety. Our long-term, strategic approach dates back several decades, so the development of a formal plan is second nature to us. Earlier this year, the Iowa DOT and our safety partners released the fourth version of the plan covering 2019-2023.

Message Monday - Unforgettable, that's what you are

October 14, 2019

Gone but not forgotten. The 255 mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and friends who have died in Iowa traffic crashes this year will continue to live daily in the memories of their loved ones.

Some of these lost loved ones made decisions behind the wheel that ultimately cost them their life. But many others were simply caught in the aftermath of someone else’s bad decisions. National research shows that 94 percent of all traffic fatalities occur because someone made one or more bad choices. Driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, allowing yourself to become distracted when you’re behind the wheel, driving when you’re tired, speeding, and not wearing your seat belt are all major contributing factors to traffic deaths.

Message Monday- Your car shouldn't fly - but your "REAL ID" can

October 7, 2019

Of course, you shouldn’t go fast enough that your vehicle will “fly,” but after Oct. 1, 2020, you can “fly” through airport security if you have a REAL ID.

If you plan to use your driver’s license or DOT-issued ID as proof of identity when you fly, starting October 1, 2020, you will need to make sure your card is marked with the REAL ID gold star in the upper right corner. A REAL ID marked card is also necessary if you want to enter a federal building or nuclear power plant that requires an ID to enter.

Message Monday - That text is not going anywhere, but your car is

September 30, 2019

Headed to work? Running behind to meet a friend? Whatever your reason to be on the road, while you’re driving IS NOT the time to be sending a text.

The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use leads to 1.6 million crashes every year. They also say texting while driving is six times more likely to cause a crash than driving drunk.

Message Monday - Drinking & Driving - things that make you go hmmm

September 23, 2019

In the last three decades, impaired driving the United States has decreased by 30 percent according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

That sounds like great news until you learn that Iowa data shows that each year nearly 34 percent of fatal crashes in our state involve an impaired driver - and the data may not show the whole picture. In Iowa, if a driver dies alone in a vehicle crash and there is no other damage or injury, that driver isn’t tested for impairment. It’s likely that at least some of those crashes can be attributed to a driver who is impaired.

Message Monday - Turn signal, you light up my life

September 16, 2019

Most of the time when you’re behind the wheel, you know exactly where you want to go. Unfortunately, the drivers around you can’t read your mind. Turn signals were invented to improve safety by alerting other drivers of your intentions.

These days, all vehicles are equipped with blinking turn signals to indicate where you want to go. In recent models, those turn signals may also connect to safety systems to alert you of vehicles or obstacles in the lane you are signaling to merge into.