(Denison) Iowa State Patrol Trooper and District #4 Public Information Officer Shelby McCreedy says Iowa traffic fatalities are down from 2021 but higher than the five-year average.
Trooper McCreedy says as of December 29, at 6:00 a.m. Iowa’s fatality Count stood at 325 lives lost on Iowa roadways, thirteen less than this same time as one year ago but five more than the five-year average.
Trooper McCreedy says July was the deadliest month, with 41 fatalities, followed by May, with 38 deaths. McCreedy says 69 percent of the fatal crashes occurred in the rural category and 31 percent in Urban areas.
Trooper McCreedy notes these numbers are preliminary, and the number of fatalities could creep up after the new year. She says a fatality is considered crash related if a death occurs up to 30 days following an accident.
Meanwhile, McCreedy says the goal is always to keep traffic fatalities under three hundred.
McCreedy says the 2022 Initiative was “Seatbelts, Impairment, Distractive Driving, and Excessive Speed.” McCreedy says, unfortunately, speed is still the number one cause of fatal crashes in the state of Iowa. She says the Iowa State Patrol is still seeing speeds over 100 miles per hour, and a lot of work needs to be done if they hope to achieve their goals in 2023.
