Iowa State Patrol warns travelers to watch speed on the road

DES MOINES, Iowa — This holiday season is expected to break travel records. To make sure Iowans stay safe on the road, the Iowa State Patrol plans to have more patrol cars on the roads as well.

Sgt Alex Dinkla, a Public Information Officer with the Iowa State Patrol, said that drivers need to slow down, buckle up, and stay off their phones.

“We need people to put those phones down. Obey the speed limit, we continue to see speeds at alarming rates and we’re talking speeds 120 and 130 miles an hour that people are choosing to travel on our roadways. Just recently here in Des Moines, we’ve seen a couple people lose their lives from being hit by somebody at triple digits. When people choose to go that fast, it’s a complete recipe for disaster,” Dinkla said.

So far this year 330 people have died on Iowa’s roadways.