Iowa has second fewest alcohol-related fatal crashes

Newly released figures show Iowa’s making headway in cutting the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths. The figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show Iowa had the second lowest rate of alcohol-related traffic deaths in the U-S in 2000. Bob Thompson is with the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau.He says Iowa was second in the nation, behind only Utah, with 28-percent of the fatal accidents involving alcohol.The figures showed only one of Iowa’s neighboring state’s — Nebraska with 37-percent — below the national average for alcohol related traffic deaths. Thompson says the figures show Federal and State efforts to lower alcohol-related deaths have proven successful. The state with the worst percentage was Alaska at 52-percent, followed by Rhode Island at 51-percent and Massachusetts and Texas at 50-percent.