Iowa speeding convictions trend down as traffic deaths rise

Speeding convictions in Iowa rose in 2023, but still were down about 17 percent from a decade ago — a decline that some law enforcement officials believe isn’t due to drivers speeding any less, but rather reduced enforcement as agencies cope with staff shortages and increased workloads.

The downward trend in speeding convictions comes as deaths on Iowa roads continued to increase in 2023. There were 377 traffic fatalities in Iowa last year, the most since 2016. Despite the increase in deaths, state lawmakers this year voted to crack down on the growing number of cities deploying automated traffic enforcement cameras yet failed to pass a rule meant to cut down on distracted driving.

Speeding conviction data

According to data from the Iowa Department of Transportation, there were 109,384 speeding convictions — meaning citations that were not dismissed — in the state in 2023. That’s up from 104,009 in 2022, but still down from what the numbers were a decade ago, including a spike in 2017 to 137,228.

The convictions reported by the Iowa DOT include tickets written by state and local law enforcement agencies, but do not include citations issued by automated traffic cameras. The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency reported that 25 Iowa cities operated traffic cameras in fiscal 2023, with the most revenue of 10 of them reviewed by the agency coming from the Cedar Rapids program. The state analysis said Cedar Rapids issued nearly 170,000 speeding and red-light running citations in fiscal 2023, but collected fines on only 55 percent of those.

These recent lower numbers across the state reported by the Iowa DOT are reflected in some local department data as well. In Marion, police officers wrote about 4,600 total traffic tickets in 2016, but fewer than 2,000 tickets in 2023. So far in 2024, the department has written 785 tickets, according to Marion Police Chief Mike Kitsmiller.

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Kitsmiller said he doesn’t think people are speeding or committing other traffic violations less, but that difficulties with police staffing and a shift in priorities have led to reduced traffic enforcement.

“We ask our officers to do so much more than they did before. We're tracking more data, which means more data has to be input. We spend a lot more time dealing with individuals and de-escalating and trying to work problems out — where in the past maybe we were a little bit quicker in keeping the peace and then driving away,” Kitsmiller said. “I think the officers just don't have the amount of free time that they used to have to do patrol and write tickets.”

Maj. Chad Colston, who oversees patrol for the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, agreed that staffing and time spent on other calls has made a big difference in traffic enforcement.

“Until recently, I can tell you that our agency has been below our staffing levels on patrol. Our citation numbers have also dropped, but if you take an average of citations per deputy they are most likely writing the same amount of tickets but there are fewer deputies,” Colston said. “From what I see, law enforcement spends more time answering calls, taking reports and working more accidents and they have less time to be proactive and trying to prevent crime.”

Kitsmiller said the Marion Police Department seldom has been able to fill all of its open positions during the last few years. Between January 2020 and January 2023, the department had only five months where it was fully staffed.

“We were never in any kind of danger of not being able to do our job, but when you look at those (staffing) levels, you’re going to have things that drop off, and I think traffic enforcement was one of them,” Kitsmiller said.

Traffic legislation

Those staffing concerns were part of why Kitsmiller started looking to automated traffic enforcement cameras, an idea he presented early last year to the Marion City Council. The cameras were approved and went live in September at two intersections in Marion.

Citations from traffic cameras come with a civil fine, and are not considered a conviction and so are not included in the Iowa DOT data.

The use of these and other traffic cameras soon will be more regulated if Gov. Kim Reynolds signs off on a bill passed last week by lawmakers. Cities like Marion and Cedar Rapids that already have the cameras will have to apply for and receive a permit from the state before Oct. 1 — or the cameras must be turned off. Cities that want to install the cameras would have to seek state permission first.

Meanwhile, a proposal to ban hand-held use of mobile devices while driving in Iowa — sought for years by law enforcement officials as a way to reduce distracted driving and traffic deaths — failed to gain traction again this year in the Legislature.

Officers say the state’s prohibition on texting while driving, enacted in 2017, is difficult to enforce because drivers can say they instead were making a call or using the device’s GPS, which still is allowed under Iowa law.

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Egregious speeding and safety corridors

Not every department is seeing a decrease in speeding tickets. Speeding citations written by the Iowa State Patrol — not all of which become convictions — have increased consistently since 2020. In 2023, the patrol handed out 87,288 citations, up from 83,861 in 2022.

Alex Dinkla, the public information officer with the patrol, said the number of citations issued varies because of a number of things, including weather, natural disasters or major events. But one thing the patrol has seen grow is the number of drivers reaching “egregious speeds,” or speeds over 100 mph — which has been a concern since the pandemic started in 2020. Officials say when there were fewer cars on the roads, some drivers got used to driving at higher speeds — and they haven’t slowed down since.

In 2023, there were 1,415 convictions in Iowa for driving 100 mph or more, according to the Iowa DOT. That’s up from 1,281 in 2022, but down from 1,672 in 2020 and 1,477 in 2021.

“It’s just incredible how many people choose to drive with that complete disregard for the safety of themselves and others on the roadways,” Dinkla said.

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In response to excessive speeding and other traffic safety concerns, the Iowa DOT in November designated “safety corridors” where crashes are most common:

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These areas have additional signage on highways and increased law enforcement presence. Dinkla said the program hasn’t been going long enough to measure success.

“Unfortunately, our state’s climbing fatality rates are showing the consequences of our individual decisions behind the wheel,” said a statement from Scott Marler, the Iowa DOT director. “We all have someone who is expecting us to return from each trip safely. Creating safety corridors is just another way the DOT can help remind drivers of the role they play in making sure everyone returns home safely.”

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