The Iowa State Police Department conducted 207 traffic stops for failure to obey stop signs in 2024, according to ISUPD Chief Michael Newton.
Due to an increase of 146 violations from 2023, the ISUPD has implemented new signage on stop signs on campus to warn drivers of the monetary consequences that could result from a “rolling stop” violation.
The signs state:
“COMPLETE STOP FREE, ROLLING STOP $210.25 YOUR CHOICE.”
According to reports from the ISUPD, the top ten streets where stop sign traffic stops took place were the following:
- Union Drive 26
- Pammel Drive 12
- Bissel Road to Pammel Drive 11
- Pammel Drive to Bissel Road 10
- Bissel Road 9
- Pammel Drive 6
- Wallace Road 6
- Cessna St/South 4th St/Beach Avenue 4
- Knapp St/Hayward Avenue 4
- Welch Road 4
“We continue to receive complaints from the campus community on the concerns with driving behaviors on campus,” Newton stated in an email to the Daily. “Rolling stops have always been illegal as you are required to make a full stop per Iowa Law (321.322). We are trying to find ways to remind those driving on campus, given the number of violations we are seeing.”
Iowa law states, “The driver of a vehicle approaching a stop intersection indicated by a stop sign shall stop at the first opportunity at either the clearly marked stop line or before entering the crosswalk or before entering the intersection or at the point nearest the intersecting roadway where the driver has a view of approaching traffic on the intersecting roadway before entering the intersection. Before proceeding, the driver shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle on the intersecting roadway which has entered the intersection or which is approaching so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard during the time the driver is moving across or within the intersection.”
Reports from the ISUPD also indicate that in 2024, the department has seen a significant increase in stop-sign violations compared to the last five years.
The reports show the following number of stop-sign traffic stops from 2020 to 2024:
- 2020 – 44
- 2021 – 42
- 2022 – 49
- 2023 – 126
- 2024 – 209
Other traffic violations reported:
Excessive speed traffic stops were reported to have decreased from 2023 to 2024, with 1,268 stops in 2023 and 1,066 in 2024.
Failure to provide proof of identification citations and warnings have also decreased from 2023 to 2024, with 292 reported in 2023 and 160 in 2024.
For more information on arrest and citation reports from the ISUPD, visit their website.
