It doesn’t make sense to Lt. Mark Miller, with the Iowa State Patrol, who is sometimes the one to tell a family their son, or daughter, has died in a crash.

“The University of Iowa does studies on distracted driving, and they are finding it’s more dangerous than driving drunk,” Miller said. “Because you are truly driving blindfolded for that time. But it seems so socially acceptable, it doesn’t make sense. It just doesn’t make sense.”

In the state patrol’s District 7, made up of seven counties including Webster, distracted driving has been a factor in nearly four out of five fatalities over the past decade.

Miller has been a trooper since 1989, and said accidents are one of the worst parts of the job.

-Daily Freeman-Journal photo by Hans Madsen
Iowa State Patrol Trooper Josh Missman looks at a motorist’s drivers license as he demonstrates a routine traffic stop.

“At accidents, and telling their loved ones they aren’t coming back,” he said.

In fact, he can remember the first time he went to a fatal wreck.

“I’m thinking back to the early ’90s when I was on the road; my first three years were at the Capitol. Was it ’92? I can see faces,” he said. “It was a head-on, and I can remember the person pinned in their car, and the blood.

“Over the years, I can shut my eyes and I can see faces, bodies. I can’t put together what every accident was anymore, but you can see a line of things.”

Some troopers develop PTSD after seeing too many accidents, he said.

“They have so many of these bad memories going on that it affects them. It’s an issue with us,” he said. “We have to keep our people aware and healthy and mentally OK.”

The troopers out on patrol have the primary goal to keep the roads safe, he said.

With that in mind, the State Patrol has a goal to crack down on distracted driving this year, Miller said.

It’s also focusing on speeding, intoxicated drivers, and seatbelt use, he said. They are the top four contributing factors in fatal accidents in District 7.

In these seven counties over the past 10 years:

— 78% of accidents had a distraction as a contributing factor;

— 67% were not wearing a seatbelt;

— 57% were speeding — either over the speed limit, or driving too fast for conditions;

— 34% of the time the driver was impaired by drugs or alcohol — or both.

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Statewide, the Patrol has an “Under 300” initiative this year with the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, with the goal of keeping the number of fatalities under 300.

“It hasn’t been that low for a long time,” Miller said. “Of course, we’d like there to be zero. We think under 300 is a realistic goal.”

The state had 317 fatalities in 2018, Miller said. That was down from 330 in 2017, and 402 in 2016.

There were 320 in 2015 and 322 in 2014, he said.

The number of fatalities where seatbelt use was a factor is high in this region at 67%, he said.

“The statewide average is 44%,” he said.

“Today’s cars are designed for the driver to survive a crash. They’re designed to crumple around the driver and the passenger compartments of the vehicle, and make most crashes survivable,” Miller said. “But if you choose not to wear that seatbelt, you’re choosing to leave the safest part of that vehicle, if you get thrown from it.”

Troopers see cars crushed in wrecks all the time which people have survived thanks to seatbelts and good design, Miller said.

“Especially in rollover accidents, somebody has their seatbelt on and that car is just a mess, it’s just a bunch of metal all crushed together, like a pop can almost — and the driver is fine,” he said. “The passenger’s fine. The little kids in the back are fine, because they’re belted in.

“And then we see other accidents where you look at the passenger compartment, and it’s very survivable — but you have a person who didn’t survive the accident because they’re lying outside the vehicle.”

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When it comes to OWI — operating while intoxicated — it’s not just alcohol, Miller said.

“The trend is rising over the years where we’re starting to arrest more and more drugged drivers versus drunk drivers, and it’s gotten to the point it’s about even,” he said.

Buzzed driving is drunk driving, he said — if you feel the effects of alcohol, you should find another ride.

“That same theory should convert over to drugged driving. If you feel the effects of the drug, whether prescribed or an illegal substance, then it’s probably altered your perceptions, your body functions, your reaction times,” Miller said.

“We’re giving our officers more and more training to recognize drugged driving,” Miller said. “We’re putting more and more experts in the field to help us enforce the laws.”

Another problem is when a prescription drug and alcohol are used at the same time, the two combined might affect driving even when one or the other would not, he said.

What is the state patrol doing about it?

“As a district we look at what we’ve done every month, and we try to make sure our guys are staying focused on — speed enforcement they’ve always been good at, that’s the easy one for us. But putting special emphasis on the seatbelts again, making sure people are wearing them,” Miller said. “Renewed emphasis on the impaired drivers at night, better emphasis on identifying those drugged drivers.

“And then on the distracted driving, we’ve declared that as a major initiative for us because it’s killing people.”

Troopers will be watching for drivers on their phones, who can be pulled over.

“As a law enforcement organization we have asked our troopers to pay special attention to this,” he said. “It’s our duty to keep the roads safer, and I would expect an officer to stop you if you’re not paying attention to the road.”

Studies show people using their phone will take their eyes off the road for an average of 4 to 6 seconds, he said. At highway speeds, that’s enough for a car to cross the length of a football field.

“A lot can happen in that time,” Miller said.

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People cannot watch videos, take photos, or read things on their phone while driving, he said. They can use phones for GPS or for making a phone call.

“Anything that’s taking your attention off the driving, you can’t be doing,” he said. “People will tell you, I wasn’t texting, I was reading a manifest for a bill I just got.”

People will go right by a marked patrol car, weaving along the road, he said.

“You didn’t even see me, did you? I was sitting on the side of the road and you drove right by me. You wouldn’t have noticed a kid on a bicycle,” he said.

The goal isn’t to write more citations, Miller said. It’s to get people to think about what they’re doing.

“We ask our troopers to go out and patrol for a purpose,” he said. “They’re not just out there writing tickets. There should be a reason behind what they’re doing, and traffic safety is the No. 1 reason.”

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