Law officers across Iowa will start a two-week enforcement effort on the state’s highways today as part of the national “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign. Patrick Hoye, spokesman for the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, says August and Labor Day weekend are among the deadliest times to travel Iowa’s roads.
“It really is for traffic in the state of Iowa, one of the highest travel count days and months for the state,” Hoye says. “Unfortunately, because of the additional traffic, that means there are additional crashes and unfortuately, a lot of those are alcohol-related.”
Law officers will concentrate on several key problem areas. “They will be looking for violations such as impaired driving and not being buckled up and texting and driving,” Hoye says. “Those are all things that, over the course of history, we have found to be very dangerous activities.”
He offers a few simple recommendations for motorists. “It really is imperative that if you’re going out and are going to be drinking that you have a plan before you leave the house,” Hoye says. “Whether it be having a designated driver, spending the night, or if you’re in a city that has Uber or Lyft, those are certainly the things that we want to do.”
Hoye says there were five traffic fatalities in Iowa over Labor Day weekend last year.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)