DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa State Patrol (ISP) is working to address a long-standing driving issue as Iowa typically sees more teenage driving deaths between Memorial Day and Labor Day every year.
And with a new state law set to take effect on July 1, which will allow teenagers as young as 14.5 years of age to drive up to 25 miles for all types of jobs and to school, ISP is preparing for more drivers.
Previous state law only permitted teens to drive 25 miles for farm-related work.
"We don't want to continue seeing fatalities, but we can't do it alone," said Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla.
In the past, many state patrol and law enforcement agencies have promoted the "100 Deadliest Days of Summer" in hopes of promoting awareness of being more responsible while driving when more people are on the roads because schools are out and families are out on vacation.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports between that 2013 and 2022, nearly 6,700 people were killed between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Nearly half of all teen driver-related deaths occurred in that same time frame.
Sgt. Dinkla said the best practice is be a defensive driver and know your surroundings, put your phone down, drive under the speed limit, and don't drive while intoxicated.
"The more education that we can do on the front end, will hopefully help us out in the long run," he added.
As of Friday, there have been 119 total driving fatalities in Iowa. Compared to this day in 2023, that's down 24 fatalities.