Statewide Iowa — Traffic fatalities in Iowa in 2020 came at a higher number than officials were hoping for.
According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, preliminary traffic fatality numbers for 2020 show 335 people died in traffic crashes last year. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Kevin Krull says that was well above the goal the state had hoped to reach.
(As above) “We didn’t quite make our goal. We’ve been striving to get under 300 for a few years now. Like most things, we set some goals that we want to attain to make everybody safe. But just like some of our personal goals that we might set, we might not always hit them. But you know what? We’re not giving up on that goal, we’re going to keep going forward with that in 2021.”
Trooper Krull says fatality numbers were down during the early months of the pandemic, as traffic volume was down on Iowa’s roads. But then, he says, they ran into another traffic menace, excessive speed.
(As above) “We did have some individuals…actually quite a few individuals…who increased their speed last year to just crazy speeds. Those 140’s, 130’s, then back out here on the county roads they were…25 over was not uncommon to find out here. Those speeds have spiked very high, and then, unfortunately, with that when people realized that we truly are out here doing our job they thought they’d try to run away from us and elude from us. That didn’t always work out the best for them.”
He says when traffic picked back up, fatalities picked back up, as well.
(As above) “We had some of our worst months in July, August and September. We had 52 deaths on the road in August. That’s just crazy and up to this past year we only had a couple of times…two months, I believe…that we actually had 40 or more deaths on the roads. Then last year we had three months in a row that they were well over 40, or at 40.”
Trooper Krull says while 2020’s death toll was lower than the previous year, law enforcement will be trying some things this year to help make it safer on Iowa’s roadways.
(As above) “We did better than last year (2019), I guess, but we’re still only the third best in five years last year (2020). So we’re going to do some things this year to try and make it a little bit safer…try to figure some stuff out here. See how we can get some better education out to people and also we’re going to increase the enforcement.”
Krull says as far as the enforcement end, the Iowa State Patrol is partnering with Iowa DOT Enforcement and local law enforcement to help make Iowa roads safer.
