Four Iowans lost their lives on highways over the holiday weekend. The Department of Transportation’s Scott Falb says the state sees small numbers so any fluctuation will affect the average. It’s tough to draw patterns, he says, explaining last year we had just two fatalities, the year before, three in 2000 and in 1999 we had eight. Falb says while tired, hurrying drivers have crashes every year, there’s no clear factor you can blame for holiday fatalities. He says it’s people doing “things they shouldn’t do” like passing in zones where it’s illegal and they’re likely to get hit, or getting distracted or falling asleep and running off the road into a culvert or tree. The vast majority occur in nice weather, he says, with “decent” lighting, and no particular curve or intersection to blame. Falb says a quarter of all the fatalities year-round involve alcohol.
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