Hoping to improve traffic safety in rural parts of Iowa, on Thursday the state patrol will begin working with five counties. Jackson County in eastern Iowa is one of the five participating in the "High Five Rural Traffic Safety Project."
Deputy Sheriff, Russ Long, says during the past five years, Jackson County has recorded 12 fatal injury accidents, and more than 100 major and minor injury accidents, plus over 300 property damage accidents.
Long says the state patrol will help the sheriff's department patrol the rural roads, and provide money to pay overtime for deputies - for enforcement and public education.
Just last week, a motorcyclist was killed on a rural road in Jackson County - on a sharp curve on The Caves Road - between Maquoketa and the state park.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety says 79 per cent of Iowa's roads are considered rural, and 78 per cent of the traffic fatalities last year (2014) occurred on rural roads.
