Although there may be many a toast on Wednesday, wishing the “Luck O’ the Irish to Ya,” Iowa State Patrol Trooper, Shelby McCreedy with District 4 in Denison, says some will find it can be a very unlucky day instead.
The Iowa State Patrol will be joining forces with our local police departments and sheriff’s offices in a special traffic enforcement for St. Patrick’s Day.
McCreedy says the ideal situation would be for the state to have zero fatalities. However, that is likely unattainable. Typically, at the beginning of the year officials set a goal of keeping roadway fatalities in the state to under 300, which she says is still way too many. After identifying that goal, they begin to work on ways to reach it. Several factors, she says, come into play.
McCreedy says there is a reason they also focus on seatbelt use.
For this special traffic enforcement initiative there is added stress on keeping impaired drivers off the roads.
McCreedy says data over the past five or six years has shown how effective these education and enforcement programs have been with decreases in fatal accidents each year. McCreedy says if just the announcement of this enforcement action makes one person think twice about any of the activities that result in fatal accidents, the initiative has been a success.
