The Labor Day weekend is typically one of the most dangerous holiday periods of the year on Iowa roads. Patrick Hoye, chief of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, says traffic crashes over this last holiday weekend of the summer often involve drunk drivers. “For example, in 2016 over the Labor Day holiday, we had three traffic fatalities and two of them involved alcohol-impaired drivers,” Hoye said.

Nationally, statistics show around 40-percent of crash fatalities over this holiday involve an impaired driver. Police across Iowa have pledged to step-up enforcement efforts through Monday.”You’ll see additional officers out,” Hoye said. “Through the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, we provide funding to make sure that there are additional officers out during this high travel, high crash time.”

Hoye says they’ll place an emphasis on impaired driving. He pleads with Iowans to plan ahead – and avoid getting behind the wheel after drinking. While there were just three fatalities on Iowa roadways over the Labor Day holiday last year, Hoye noted there were seven people killed in crashes in Iowa over the same period in 2015.

(Radio Iowa)