For Carroll Chief of Police, Brad Burke, and Carroll County Sheriff, Ken Pingrey, this has been their first full year in their current roles for participation in the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau Special Traffic Enforcement Program, known as sTEP. During the past year, Burke says he would like to report the initiatives have decreased accidents, but the statistics show something different, with distracted driving being one of the biggest increases they are seeing in the city limits.
Pingrey, on the other hand, says the number of accidents they have had throughout the county is down this year and no fatalities have been recorded to date.
Distracted driving isn’t the only thing on the rise in the last couple of years.
When the officers talk about operating while intoxicated, they are not just talking about alcohol. Drugged driving is another problem being seen more frequently. Again, Pingrey says, this could be because of people not using alternate forms of transportation, driving while more impaired and a larger number of officers on our roadways. For the upcoming Memorial Day holiday period, our area law enforcement agencies will be providing stepped up enforcement in the next sTEP initiative that will run from Monday, May 22 through Sunday, June 4. The focus is on seat belts, but Pingrey says officers will be educating on many other aspects of safe driving as well.
Iowa law was recently changed so that any passenger under the age of 18 must wear a seat belt no matter where they are sitting in the vehicle. For those over 18, seat belts are optional in the back seat, but both Burke and Pingrey say everyone in the car should buckle up. Burke says in town they are seeing situations where the person in the back is unbelted and is thrown into the front seat, causing injury to the driver or front-seat passenger. Pingrey says what happens on the highway varies, but they have witnessed fatality accidents where the person would have walked away, probably unharmed, if they had been wearing a seat belt. The current seat belt fine is $127.50 and, in Iowa, is considered a moving violation.
