Iowa State Patrol Trooper Mark Lamberger wrote down driver’s license information during a traffic stop on Highway 100 in Cedar Rapids last Monday. Lamberger clocked the car at 131 mph. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
The number of speeding convictions in Iowa increased in 2023, but was still about 17% lower than a decade ago. Some law enforcement officials believe the decline was not due to drivers speeding, but rather because authorities were dealing with staffing shortages and enforcement efforts were scaled back as staffing increased. workload.
The downward trend in speeding convictions comes as the number of deaths on Iowa roads continues to rise in 2023. Last year, 377 people died in traffic accidents in Iowa, the highest number since 2016. Despite the rising death toll, state lawmakers voted this year to crack down on the growing number of traffic accidents. Many cities that have automated traffic cameras have failed to enact rules aimed at reducing distracted driving.
speeding conviction data
According to data from the Iowa Department of Transportation, there were 109,384 speeding convictions (meaning convictions that were not dismissed) in the state in 2023. This is up from 104,009 in 2022, but still down from 10 years ago. In 2017, it jumped to 137,228.
The convictions reported by the Iowa Department of Transportation include tickets written by state and local law enforcement agencies, but not citations issued by automatic traffic cameras. The bipartisan Legislative Agency reported that 25 Iowa cities were operating traffic cameras in fiscal year 2023, and of the 10 cities the agency studied, the Cedar Rapids program generated the most revenue. According to a state analysis, Cedar Rapids issued about 170,000 citations for speeding and red light violations in fiscal year 2023, but only 55% of those citations resulted in fines.
These recent lower numbers across the state reported by the Iowa Department of Transportation are also reflected in data from some local agencies. In Marion, police officers issued a total of about 4,600 traffic tickets in 2016, but fewer than 2,000 in 2023. Marion Police Chief Mike Kitzmiller said his department has issued 785 tickets so far in 2024.
Kitzmiller doesn’t think people are speeding or other traffic violations less, but said police staffing difficulties and changing priorities are leading to fewer traffic enforcement.
Last Monday, Iowa State Patrol Trooper Mark Lamberger’s patrol car clocked a speed of 81 mph as he was pulled over along Highway 100 in Cedar Rapids. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
“We’re asking executives to do much more than they used to. We’re tracking more data, so we have to enter more data. We’re asking executives to do much more than they used to. “We spend a lot of time trying to de-escalate and resolve issues, whereas in the past we might have been a little quicker to keep the peace and walk away,” Kitzmiller said. “I think officers don’t have as much free time as they used to to patrol and write tickets.”
Maj. Chad Colston, who oversees patrols for the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, agreed that staffing and time spent on other calls has made a big difference in traffic enforcement.
“I would say that until recently, our agency had less than the number of personnel on patrol. Our citation numbers are also down, but if you average the number of citations per deputy, they have the same amount. are likely to be writing tickets, but there are fewer legislators,” Colston said. “What I see is that law enforcement is spending more time responding to calls, taking reports, and responding to more incidents, and less time being proactive and trying to prevent crime. ”
Kitzmiller said the Marion Police Department has rarely been able to fill all of its open positions over the past few years. Between January 2020 and January 2023, the department was fully staffed for just five months.
“We’ve never been in any danger of not being able to do our jobs, but when you look at this (staffing) level, there are going to be things that are going to be reduced. Traffic enforcement is one of them. I think so,” Kitzmiller said.
Traffic Laws
Those staffing concerns are part of the reason Kitzmiller started looking at automated traffic enforcement cameras, an idea he presented to the Marion City Council early last year. The cameras were approved and began operating at two intersections in Marion in September.
Traffic camera citations carry civil penalties but are not considered criminal convictions, so they are not included in the Iowa Department of Transportation data.
The use of these and other traffic cameras will soon be further regulated if Gov. Kim Reynolds signs a bill passed by lawmakers last week. Cities that already have cameras installed, like Marion and Cedar Rapids, have until Oct. 1 to apply and receive a permit from the state or they will have to turn them off. Cities that want to install cameras must first get permission from the state.
Meanwhile, a proposal to ban the hand-held use of mobile devices while driving in Iowa, long sought by law enforcement officials as a way to reduce distracted driving and traffic fatalities, failed to gain support in the Legislature this year. There wasn’t.
Troopers said the state’s ban on texting while driving, enacted in 2017, is still allowed under Iowa law, but drivers are not allowed to make phone calls or use their devices’ GPS instead. It is said that it is difficult to enforce the law because it can be argued that the law did something like that.
Iowa State Patrol Trooper Mark Lamberger issued a speeding ticket during a traffic stop on Highway 30 in Cedar Rapids last Monday. The car he stopped was going 110km/h. Lamberger said there are typically about 10 traffic stops a day, and on nice days and weekends you can find people cruising at high speeds. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
Severe speeding and safe passage
Not all departments are seeing a decline in speeding tickets. The number of speeding stops by the Iowa State Patrol has increased consistently since 2020, although not all of them result in convictions. In 2023, the number of speeding violations by patrol increased from 83,861 in 2022 to 87,288.
Alex Dinkla, the patrol’s public information officer, said the number of citations fluctuates depending on a variety of factors, including weather, natural disasters and large-scale events. But what patrol officers are seeing is an increase in the number of drivers reaching “exorbitant speeds,” or speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. This has been a concern since the pandemic began in 2020. According to authorities, when the number of cars on the road decreased, some drivers said they were used to driving at high speeds and haven’t slowed down since.
In 2023, there were 1,415 convictions for driving over 100 mph in Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. This is an increase from 1,281 people in 2022, but a decrease from 1,672 people in 2020 and 1,477 people in 2021.
Officer Jason Shamberger, right, observes Officer Mark Lamberger talking with a driver during a traffic stop at the Wilson Avenue exit in Cedar Rapids last Monday. Shamburger, who transferred from the Marion Police Department to the Iowa State Patrol, will undergo 70 days of training before being able to patrol alone. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
“It’s absolutely incredible how many people choose to drive with complete disregard for their own safety and the safety of others on the road,” Dinkla said.
In response to speeding and other traffic safety concerns, the Iowa Department of Transportation in November designated “safety corridors” where crashes are most common.
- U.S. Highway 20 from Lawton to Mobile, Woodbury County
- US Highway 6 east of Council Bluffs to US Highway 59 in Pottawattamie County
- Interstate 80, County Road F-48 to Newton, Jasper County.
- Iowa Highway 5 to Iowa Highway 92 to the Monroe County line in Marion County
- U.S. Highway 218 from Mount Pleasant to County Road J-20 in Henry County (near Salem)
- Iowa Highway 2 from Donelson to US Highway 61 in Lee County.
Trooper Mark Lamberger speaks with a driver during a traffic stop for speeding on Interstate 30 in Cedar Rapids last Monday. State Police vehicles are equipped with antennas that allow them to pick up speed both from the rear of the vehicle and from oncoming traffic. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
Highway signs have been added and law enforcement presence has increased in these areas. Dinkler said the program hasn’t been around long enough to measure success.
“Unfortunately, our state’s rising death rate shows the impact of our individual decisions while driving,” Iowa Department of Transportation Director Scott Marler said in a statement. “We have people who count on us to come home safely from every trip. Having a safety corridor is a reminder to drivers of the role DOT plays in making sure everyone gets home safely. It’s just another way.”
Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com
