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State on pace for low number of traffic deaths

December 30, 2011 By

The state of Iowa is on a pace to have one of the lowest highway death rates in years. As of Thursday (December 29), state numbers show there were 352 deaths,  or 32 below the total for 2010. It would be the fourth consecutive year the state has been below 400 traffic deaths.

Iowa State Patrol Captain, Mike Winter, says a lack of snow and ice have helped. “The weather has really cooperated with us this year, it looks like good weather this weekend and I think the same thing is going to prevail. I think the roads will be good, the weather’s going to be good. Everybody just needs to keep an eye on everybody else and hopefully drive safely,” Winter says.

He says the state patrol doesn’t have any special efforts planned for the holiday weekend. “The nice thing is over the last few years, the word usually gets out through the media, and it seems like everybody uses designated drivers over the New Year’s Ever holiday,” according to Winter.

Winter says the officers that are out will be on the lookout for people who are drinking and driving or committing other violations. “We just encourage everybody to drive safely, make sure you have a designated driver, and watch out for the other driver,” Winter says.

Today is expected to be a busy travel day with two Iowa teams playing in bowl games, according to Winter. There were 384 traffic deaths in the state in 2010, 368 in 2009, 398 in 2008 and 2007 was the last year over 400 with a total of 425.

Filed Under: Featured Story, Fires/Accidents/Disasters, News Tagged With:

Black Hawk County investigating trooper’s role in accident

November 18, 2011 By

The Black Hawk County Attorney will look into possible charges against an Iowa State Trooper after his role in a four-car pile-up in Cedar Falls last week. A State Patrol report shows that trooper Jeremy Schaffer of Cedar Falls was northbound on Hudson Road near the UNI-Dome just before four o’clock last Friday afternoon when he was distracted after noticing a car parked on a grassy area.

In the report, Schaffer stated he was unable to stop in time to avoid hitting the stopped car ahead of him. Schaffer’s patrol car rear-ended a car driven by 18-year-old Elizabeth Wilson of Cedar Falls. Her car then hit a vehicle driven by 34-year-old Melissa Nicholson of Waterloo, and her car was pushed into an SUV being driven by 31-year-old Josef Gindorff of Waterloo.

At the time of the accident, Hudson Road was seeing heavy traffic due to the state high school football playoffs being played at the UNI-Dome. No one was injured in the crash, but combined damage to the four vehicles was estimated at nearly $34,000.

By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls

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New phone makes it legal to text and drive

October 31, 2011 By

The new iPhone 4S is making it possible for motorists to legally text while driving in Iowa. The Department of Public Safety says Iowa’s ban on texting while driving does not apply to Siri, Apple’s new virtual assistant.

Features like Siri or any of the similar voice-command applications let users tell their phone what to text. Captain Mike Winter is with the Iowa State Patrol.

“We do have a law banning texting while driving, however if you do have a handheld electronic device that’s voice operated and hands-free, which allows you to either write, read or sent a text message without using either hand, you can use that device in your vehicle,” Winter explained.

Motorists so be aware, however, once they pick up the phone to check spelling or dictation, they’re no longer hands-free and in violation of the ban. An exemption to the texting ban notes sending a text message through voice command is allowed, so long as you only touch the phone to turn that feature on and off.

“As long as you’re hands-free, you’re okay,” Winter said. “There’s an exemption in the law which lets you activate or deactivate a feature or function on that kind of device.” Motorists caught texting while driving in Iowa can face a $30 fine, but with court costs added, the full bill could be $100.

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No video or audio available in fatal crash involving state trooper

September 22, 2011 By

Trooper Mark Toney died in an accident Tuesday.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety has released more information about Tuesday’s car crash that killed a State Trooper near Indianola. 
Radio Iowa’s Pat Curtis reports:  Curtis story. :63

The information includes two 9-1-1 calls placed shortly after the crash at 4:40 p.m. One caller stated, “I just saw a cop go in the ditch and he went in it pretty fast.” Trooper Mark Toney died in the crash as his squad car rolled into a field and burst into flames.

[Read more...]

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State Trooper dies in accident

September 21, 2011 By

Trooper Mark Toney died in an accident Tuesday.

A state trooper died Tuesday afternoon when his squad car rolled off a central Iowa highway and burst into flames. Iowa State Trooper Mark Toney was going north on Highway 65, just south of Indianola.

Witnesses said the squad car’s emergency lights were activated when the trooper’s car left the highway and landed in a field to the west of Highway 65.

[Read more...]

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DOT and DPS say no decision’s been made on motor vehicle enforcement move

September 13, 2011 By

The leaders of the Department of Public Safety and Transportation say no decision has been finalized on moving the D.O.T.’s motor vehicle enforcement officers under the management of public safety. This morning a spokesman with the Iowa State Patrol said that plan was moving forward. (story)

This afternoon, the commissioners of both departments seemed to contradict that statement in a conference call with Radio Iowa. D.O.T. commissioner, Paul Trombino said they’ve so far only formed a joint committee to explore sharing between departments. Trombino says they want to know if there are ways to be better use dollars and resources more efficiently by integrating communications facilities and other things they do.

[Read more...]

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Motor vehicle enforcement officers moving to DPS control

September 13, 2011 By

A follow up to this story was post on Radio Iowa at 3:50 see it here:  MVE update.

The Department of Public Safety has announced plans to take over management of the motor vehicle enforcement officers that are currently under the supervision of the Department of Transportation. The motor vehicle officers are the ones you see driving blue cars and wearing blue uniforms at the weight stations across the state.

Iowa State Patrol spokesman, Sergeant Scott Bright, says there won’t be any change in how those officers operate. Bright says they will simply become another division under the Department of Public Safety and their job functions will be the same.

He says the difference people will notice is that the officers will now wear the brown uniform of the patrol and their cars will carry the Iowa State Patrol shield with identification that they are motor vehicle enforcement officers.

The patrol has seen its numbers drop as budgets have been cut back, and Bright says this will add a show of some 100 more officers in the patrol style uniform. He says you’ll see more visibility for the patrol with the change the car markings and will see more “brown shirts” as the officers change uniforms.

Bright says they think the change will save the state money in the long run. “We believe it’s going to provide the citizens of Iowa a higher level of services across the state,” Bright says, “The leadership of the state patrol and the Department of Transportation would like to see the enforcement efforts coming from one central agency, and by bringing the motor vehicle enforcement under the Department of Public Safety, we can do that.”

Bright says the change is not a new concept. Bright says most of the states in the midwest have motor vehicle enforcement under the department of public safety or their highway patrol, and other states also have the same arrangement. The changeover is starting now and could take several weeks.

He says there are transition teams from the state patrol and the D.O.T. working on the change. “It could take up to two months, it could take up to six months, there’s really not a time line that’s been set,” Bright said. “It’s an historic event for the Department of Public Safety and it’s just going to take time for this process to move ahead.” The Iowa State Patrol began in 1935 and the patrol now has around 370 troopers.

The Iowa Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division’s history page says it was started in 1941 after the state highway commission became concerned about overweight trucks damaging the state’s roadways.

Update as of 1 p.m:
The spokesman for Governor Branstad says the governor “is aware of these discussions, but has not yet approved any specific plan to move forward .” He says the governor respects the fact that any move in this direction will require the consent and approval of the legislature.

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