Law enforcement across Iowa sTEPs (special traffic enforcement program) up this July Fourth weekend looking to crack down on impaired driving.
Trooper Tom Williams with the Mason City District office of the Iowa State Patrol, says you’ll be out-and-about for the holiday and so will the ISP, as well as participating City police and County sheriff’s departments.
Williams says the ISP also deployed extra air support in North Iowa on Wednesday (07.03).
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) cautions that the Fourth of July holiday stands out as one of the deadliest times on the nation’s roads. From 2018 to 2022, there were over 2,200 traffic crash fatalities during the holiday, with just over 1,400 of those who died being the driver. 39% (545) those drivers were drunk and 50% of them were between the ages of 21-and-34
NHTSA also reports that in 2022, a person was killed every 39 minutes in a drunk-driving crash on our nation’s roads, even though it is illegal to drive while impaired by alcohol.
