Cedar Rapids, Iowa (KCRG) – More and more people are dying in the state because of UTV and ATV accidents.
Two people were killed and another was hurt in accidents involving these cars on Saturday night in Linn and Jones Counties.
At the beginning of September, TV9 did a story on how many people have died while riding UTVs in Iowa. There were 15 on September 2nd.
We have 19 now as of Monday.
The overall number of deaths in crashes involving motorcycles, bikes, pedestrians, and UTVs is actually going down so far this year.
At the end of September of last year, 285 crashes killed people. So far this year, there have been 242 accidents that killed people.
But the number of UTV and ATV accidents has kept going up.
In 2019, seven people died because of UTVs.
It only went up one to eight in 2020.
In 2021, only four people died because of UTVs.
That number went up to 12 in 2022 and 2023.
Police say that changes to the law that let more of these cars drive on roads in eastern Iowa are causing more accidents.
As of 2022, all 99 counties could use UTVs on state roads as long as the driver had a licence and was at least 18 years old.
“It’s kind of like boating.” When you’re with friends or family, you do things together.
Trooper Bob Conrad of the Iowa State Patrol, this is new and hasn’t been in full force for as long as it was 20 years ago. As a result, some people aren’t adapting to the best ways to do things.
Nineteen people have died in UTV accidents so far in 2024.
He says that UTVs should be driven like cars.
When you drive a UTV, it’s best to do things like drive a car. Our seatbelts are on, we follow the rules of the road, and we’re not drunk or sidetracked.
We’re also watching out for the other people in the car and making sure they have theirs on. Officer Conrad said, “That’s what gets you home at the end of the day.”