Tall corn can cause traffic problems along some roads

The Iowa Department of Transportation is urging motorists to use extra caution at rural intersections where their vision may be obstructed by tall corn. Tom Welch, a D-O-T safety engineer, recommends drivers treat each of those intersections as though it had a yield sign. In an average year, state D-O-T statistics show there are 190 crashes, one hundred injuries and three fatalities related to drivers having obscured vision at rural intersections.Welch says farmers are not at fault. He says it’s their property and their right to plant corn right up to the fence row. He says on high traffic roadways, the state buys the land from farmers to open up the sight lines. Welch says it’s not possible to do that with every low-volume county road.For more information on the “Put the Brakes on Fatalities” campaign and Iowa fatality statistics, go to “www.dot.state.ia.us/brakes”.