Iowa’s traffic fatality totals for 1995 “don’t look good,” said Scott Falb, an Iowa Department of Transportation representative.

By the end of last month, 56 more deaths had occurred on Iowa’s roads than in October of 1994.

“We’re running 466 fatalities on the current count, with about 20 [deaths] we haven’t received official reports on yet,” Falb said.

Confirmation of these reports would raise the death toll to 486, and “that doesn’t include what’s left of November and December,” Falb said. Forty-five people were killed in December of 1994. Of the seven traffic fatalities on Iowa’s roads over the Thanksgiving weekend, four people died in one crash, with three other single-death crashes.

Falb said single-vehicle crashes account for “close to 40 percent of all traffic fatalities.” These accidents are caused by cars that run off the road and hit a culvert, a tree or a bridge embankment, Falb said.

“Inherent in each and every [accident last week] was that the driver did not have control of their vehicle,” Jean Sargent of the DOT said. Sargent said in more cases than not, seat belts were not worn.

DOT death totals are compiled into Accident Location and Analysis System (ALAS) reports that are used by the Story County Engineers to help determine, in part, trends of potentially dangerous roads. ALAS reports are “a good piece of information in deciding about road construction,” said Francis Todey, a representative from the Story County Engineers.

County engineers determine how dangerous an intersection is by the number of accidents that have occurred there.

There may also soon be a new cog in the wheel.

“It will be interesting to see how the new speed limit regulations will affect accidents in Iowa,” Todey said. President Clinton signed a bill Tuesday that lifts federally imposed speed limits.