Rural Roads in Surrounding Counties Will Soon See Increase of Traffic Safety Enforcement

Beginning October 1st, five county sheriffs and the Iowa State Patrol will begin special efforts through an initiative identified as “High Five Rural Traffic Safety Project” to focus on traffic safety on Iowa’s rural roadways.

After reviewing five years of crash data and looking at counties with low seat belt compliance rates, the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau along with a multi-disciplinary team of traffic safety professionals selected five rural counties to participate in this project.

78.35% of fatalities in Iowa in 2014 occurred on rural roads. Approximately 79% of Iowa’s total roadways are considered rural in nature. Rural safety has become a major concern.

The counties participating in the project include Boone, Jackson, Lee, Monona, and Poweshiek. The High Five Project will involve a three-tier approach to include enforcement, engineering and education with the ultimate goal to build a safer community. Through enforcement, media, and community outreach, participating agencies will work to educate drivers on the benefits of complying with traffic laws with an emphasis on Iowa’s seat belt law. From an engineering aspect, the focus will be to identify low cost safety improvements throughout the county.

The county sheriffs and county engineers within the High Five counties and the Iowa State Patrol are conscientious safety advocates who understand rural roads are unique because they are shared by a variety of vehicle types from passenger vehicles to large machinery and other farm implements traveling at slower speeds. The need to have a special program focusing coordinated efforts on rural safety has become apparent.

Funding for overtime enforcement efforts is provided by Federal Highway Safety Grants administered through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Iowa Department of Public Safety, Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau.