Iowans who plan to do some traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday will likely see a few law enforcement officers on the road as well. Sergeant Scott Bright is the spokesperson for the Iowa State Patrol. “It’s one of the most traveled holidays of the year, so we’re going to have a few extra troopers out there working,” Bright said.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend last year, two people were killed traffic crashes around the state. “This year, hopefully we have zero,” Bright said. “Currently, we’ve had 304 traffic fatalities in the state (this year). Last year, at this time, we had 280. So, we’re 24 ahead of where we were last year and hopefully this weekend we won’t lose anybody on the highways.”
Iowa ended up with 318 traffic deaths in 2013 — the lowest annual total since 1944. Bright is encouraging motorists to buckle up, obey the speed limit, and avoid distractions while driving.
Bright says most accidents in the wintertime could be avoided if people would just slow down and adjust their speed to the road conditions.