More motorists were on the state’s roadways over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend than possibly any time in history.
Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Nate Ludwig says there were several factors that led to congestion on Iowa’s roads, led by people headed home to see family.
“Considering that gas prices are down, the weather we had, and the home football games going on in Ames and Iowa City, we expected this to be one of the busier travel holidays ever in Iowa history,” Ludwig said.
The patrol covered more than 100 crashes and made more than two dozen OWI arrests.”There was a total of 118 crashes during the four-day period,” Ludwig said. “Twenty-nine were arrested for operating while intoxicated.”
Five people were killed in those crashes. There have now been 359 traffic deaths in Iowa this year. That is an increase of 72 deaths over 2015, with a little over a month to go in 2016.