(Spirit Lake)– This time of year increases dangers for motorists with the ongoing harvest and deer on the move. Kevin Krull of the Iowa State Patrol says everyone needs to be extra vigilant right now…
“The thing I want to point out there is our closing times on the vehicles is going to be faster in change on that aspect, so we need to be paying attention to our driving that way. And the other thing that really comes up is the passing. Just because they’re an oversize, slow moving vehicle doesn’t mean we can pass them in no passing zones. We want people to understand that no passing means no passing. Wait for it to be clear to where you can actually see and pass with caution.”
Krull says the evening hours this time of year can be especially dangerous…
“As you get close to dusk and what not, the dust and all that stuff all factor in. And then we have to be looking and paying attention because not only will you see a John Deere on the road but you’ll also see those whitetail deer crossing the road as well as other critters because it’s that time of year.”
And Krull says it’s important NOT to veer for deer…
“If you jerk the steering wheel you run the risk of A: going into the ditch; B: going into other traffic, or becoming a single vehicle rollover because now we’ve got that quick reaction and the quick turn of the steering wheel which sometimes can turn into a rollover situation. We don’t want to hit the deer, but it’s better to hit the deer than to do those other things because you can do a lot more damage the other way.”
Krull says the frequency of crashes involving deer has been declining in recent years but says it remains a major issue.
