MP Police participate in sTEP program

Mt. Pleasant?s Police Department made 29 motorist arrests during its participation in the Special Traffic Enforcement Program (sTEP) from Nov. 20-27.

In addition the department issued 21 tickets, 144 warnings, 29 motorist assists and investigated four accidents. In all, there were 289 contacts during the program, which saw participation from 12 officers from the department.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), during the 2014 Thanksgiving holiday, 341 vehicle occupants were killed nationwide in traffic crashes. Fifty percent of those fatalities were not wearing seat belts. In Iowa, five people were killed over the 2015 holiday.

The sTEP projects are funded by the Governor?s Traffic Safety Bureau through a program with the NHTSA. These funds enable more officers to work more hours on roadways all across the state during times of the year when travel increases and traffic crashes, injury and death are most probable.

Almost one-third of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States and Iowa involve drunk drivers. That means an average of 10,000 people in the United States have died needlessly every year since 2010.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 28 people, nationwide, die every day in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 53 minutes.

In contrast, wearing a seat belt is the single most effective thing a driver or passenger can do to protect themselves in a crash. A NHTSA report shows that seat belts save over 13,000 lives per year. That is more than the population of most Iowa towns, and it only takes approximately four seconds to buckle up.

Iowa law enforcement officers need your help, local police officers said, and are asking every motorist who gets behind the wheel to buckle up and drive responsibly.