Iowa DOT urges lawmakers to allow snowplows to have blue, white lights

Iowa transportation officials want to study whether blue and white lights on snowplows will reduce crashes, but state law reserves those colors for emergency responder vehicles.

The Iowa Department of Transportation is urging lawmakers to change the law so snowplows can have a combination of blue and white lights, to go with the customary amber-colored lights. State Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, said he expects such a bill to be 'fast tracked' this legislative session.

To that end, the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday passed a bill allowing blue and white lights and reflectors during snow removal. It next goes to the full Senate.

'We're just having too many incidents and accidents to DOT vehicles,' said Dvorsky, who serves as vice chairman of the Transportation Committee. 'It really is an important safety feature for the safety of motorists and the safety of DOT staff ... .'

Dvorsky supports the Senate measure and noted his father had a snowplow route in Johnson County as an employee for the Iowa highway commission, and also that Nebraska snowplows have used the color combination for 17 years.

The DOT had 20 collisions during the first big storm this year, which accounted for more than half of what the DOT usually records in a full year. There were no serious injuries.

While motorist and driver safety is the primary concern, collisions also rack up costs. A new plow can cost $160,000, and even minor collisions can cost $5,000 to $10,000 for repairs, in addition to any settlements, said John Hart, senior transportation engineer for the Iowa DOT.

Hart said they'd been discussing the light idea for about 10 months — well before the storm —and started working on changing the law about four months ago.

'(The crashes this month) didn't impact the decision to move forward with this, but it reaffirms that we have accidents that occur, and we need to improve safety for our drivers and the public,' Hart said.

If the law is changed, the DOT will embark on a three-year pilot study.

The study will include installing the different-colored lights on 175 snowplows in DOT district 12, which is in central Iowa near Des Moines. It also will include analysis of whether the color change makes a difference, Hart said.

The study will cost $225,000. The lights would be installed over the summer, and the project would be ready next winter, Hart said.

Hart said the idea has garnered support, but some have expressed concern that the blue and white lights could confuse motorists.