At least five people died in auto accidents on Iowa roadways during the Thanksgiving weekend. The Iowa State Patrol investigated two of the fatal accidents. Patrol spokesman Sergeant Rob Hansen says one accident involved four deaths, but shouldn’t have. He says three of the people in one of the cars were not wearing seatbelts. If they had, Sergeant Hansen says they might be alive today. Hansen says there was good news about alcohol-related deaths as they and drunk driving arrests were down. Speeding violations, though, increased by 12-percent. Hansen says traffic levels in Iowa appear to support the reports that people were shunning air travel in favor of the highways.He says there’s evidence of that in a 16-percent increase in the number of people needing roadside assistance. He says the roadways are likely to continue to be crowded, and will require drivers to pay more attention.Last Thanksgiving, three people died on Iowa roads during the holiday weekend, while eight died during Thanksgiving weekend of 1999. The Iowa D-O-T says over the last decade, Iowa’s averaged six deaths every Thanksgiving.
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