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Accident fatalities increased in 2016

Across Iowa last year, there were 86 more motor vehicle fatalities than there were in 2015.

In all, 402 people in Iowa died as the result of accidents in 2016.

In 2015, that number was 316.

The upward trend was also reflected in the Iowa State Patrol’s District 7, according to Trooper Neil Morenz, who is also a technical investigator with the agency.

In the seven-county area District 7 encompasses — which includes Webster, Hamilton, Calhoun, Pocahontas, Humboldt, Wright and Kossuth counties — there were 15 crashes, resulting in 16 deaths.

In 2015, there were nine crashes and 12 deaths.

Morenz said there is no one factor that led to that increase.

“Certainly, you saw a trend of contributing factors that were common amongst them,” Morenz said. “One was speed. Two was operating while intoxicated.”

The third factor was distracted driving.

“Whether it be cell phones,” he said, “something going on inside the car or not paying attention for whatever reason when going on the road.”

Drivers not wearing seat belts were also a contributing factor in the high fatality count.

Morenz believes that a lack of troopers patrolling the highways was likely a contributing factor as well.

“You don’t have as many troopers enforcing those speed laws, giving seat belt tickets, looking for distracted drivers,” he said.

Because there are fewer troopers, Morenz said the ones who remain have taken on additional responsibilities.

“That takes us away from doing other types of jobs,” Morenz said. “We had five troopers working the pipeline protests, and because of that we weren’t able to be out on the road looking for those people.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, because we’re there to assist other agencies and we’re more than happy to help,” he said. “But sometimes there’s a price to pay for one duty over another.”

Morenz said there are plans to combat the rising number of road fatalities.

It’s possible new troopers will be hired this year, he said. That would help fill some of the empty positions.

There’s also tactical moves the ISP can utilize.

“There’s some creative avenues we could probably work with the numbers we have,” he said. “We could saturate a particular area and one work speed.”

He highlighted a project the state patrol did recently where it targeted U.S. Highway 20. That effort was so successful that troopers in other states adopted the plan.

“We’d pick a certain time frame and work Highway 20 and hit everything,” he said. “Speeding, seat belts, distracting driving, and through that we wrote quite a few tickets and took drunk drivers off the road. We even arrested some people who had outstanding warrants.”

Of course, drivers can always help protect themselves.

“Just slow down,” Morenz said. “Pay attention to what you’re doing, get off your cell phone and wear your seat belt. You’ve got to be accountable for what you’re doing on the roadway.”

Even a minor distraction can be costly, Morenz said.

“You take your eyes off the road for three seconds at 55 miles per hour, traveling at 89 feet per second,” he said. “A lot can happen in that distance.”

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