Northwest Iowa — The corn is getting taller — and the rural intersections are becoming more dangerous.
It happens every year. We grow tall corn in Iowa, which is great, but it also means visibility problems on rural roads, especially when both roads are gravel and don’t have the expanded sight lines that paved roads have. Sioux County Sheriff Jamie Van Voorst tells us more.
He says some people think they have a way to tell if something’s coming. But the sheriff says that’s not enough.
He says the problem is, rural visibility is pretty good for a number of months out of the year, and we get used to being able to see traffic at every intersection.
Law enforcement officers say uncontrolled intersections can be a problem even in town, as some people are unaware that they must yield to their right if neither vehicle has a stop or yield sign. They tell us we should always expect that another vehicle will be approaching the intersection, and to expect that they won’t be able to stop in time, even if you have the right of way. They tell us if we all drove like that, intersections would be much safer.
