Traffic enforcement will increase in Iowa during Labor Day weekend

Iowa Department of Public Safety?s (DPS) Iowa Governor?s Traffic Safety Bureau (GTSB) says there will be a noticeable increase in traffic enforcement across Iowa prior to and through the Labor Day holiday (Aug. 23-Sept. 5).

During 2014 (the last year statistics are available), Labor Day holiday weekend, 40 percent of the fatalities involved drunk drivers, which was the highest percentage in over five years.

Almost one-third of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States and Iowa involve drunk drivers. That means an increase 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 involves an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 53 minutes.

The simple act of wearing a seat belt is the single most effective thing a driver or passenger can do to protect themselves in a crash. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report shows that seat belts save over 13,000 lives per year. This is more than the population of most Iowa towns, and it only takes approximately four seconds to buckle up.

The Labor Day holiday and every day, buckle up and don?t drive drunk, says the GTSB. Working together, people can be kept safe on Iowa roads.