At a rural intersection on Highway F17 just west of Baxter, Iowa a Newton man and woman were killed when a van driver failed to stop at a stop sign and to yield. Details are sketchy and the Jasper County Sheriff’s office is investigating.

There is an intersection on Hickman Road in Clive where the City installed a camera to save evidence of drivers who do the same. The program is referred to as the RLR Camera program. RLR is the abbreviation for red light runners. It’s not just in Clive, but also in Davenport and Council Bluffs. The complete report

How anyone can run through a stop sign is if done more evidence of gross negligence. A failure to yield is certain evidence of fault.

“A new study of the effectiveness of red light running programs in three Iowa cities shows a significant decrease in crashes in Davenport and Council Bluffs where red light running cameras were installed. Results of the research funded by the Iowa Department of Transportation and conducted by the Center for Transportation Research and Education (CTRE) at Iowa State University found a 40 percent reduction in red light running crashes in Davenport. In Council Bluffs, a 90 percent reduction was found. Total crashes also decreased at intersections with red light running camera enforcement.”

The study is titled, The Effectiveness of Iowa's Automated Red Light Running Enforcement Programs (RLR, Phase 2). The researchers can be reached at Principal investigator: Shauna Hallmark, 515-294-5249, shallmar@iastate.edu (project list) Co-principal investigator: Tom McDonald, 515-294-6384, tmcdonal@iastate.edu (project list).

Let’s get back to the original interesection collision involving the Newton man and woman. In terms of investigating the rural intersection collision the roadway needed to be photographed, witnesses interviewed, vehicle damage photographed and digs and ruts within the intersection photographed. The vehicles need to be preserved for an accident reconstructionist to further evaluate. Don’t count on the Iowa State Patrol or local Sheriff’s office to do the work needed in a civil case. The ISP performs an excellent technical investigation, but it’s not being done to prove a civil case. The relatives of the motorcycle riders need to take charge of the motorcycle and preserve it. Later I’ll post about the van driver’s insurance company what they will do that could destroy the civil case or make it much more difficult to prove.