Hundreds of Iowa law officers are joining today in a weeklong statewide effort to get lawbreakers off the roads. It’s called “STEP,” for Special Traffic Enforcement Program, as the enforcement of laws is “stepped” up. Lu Simpson is the STEP coordinator in the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau.Simpson says law officers across Iowa will be zeroing in on things like speeders and drunks, while checking to make sure motorists and their kids are properly belted in. The last STEP effort was in May, which involved 143 law enforcement agencies in the state.Iowa currently has a seat belt use rate of 78-percent, which is three points better than the national average, but Simpson says that’s still not good enough.The new STEP begins today and runs through next Monday. Simpson says several factors are behind this latest effort, including the recent start of most schools, the upcoming Labor Day weekend and an increase in farm equipment on the roads due to the approaching harvest season.
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