Yesterday on my drive home I witnessed something I had never before seen on a major Iowa highway or interstate. I'm still in a bit of shock, too. I'll share what I saw with you, but first, a little context to why this was such a shock.

I live in Cedar Falls, and work (most days) in Cedar Rapids. So what that means, is a roughly one-hour drive each day from work. A good chunk of that time, let's say 98% of it, is spent on Iowa Interstate 380.

It can be a lot, but when the weather is nice, the drive does go very fast.

A sweet sight: Entering Cedar Rapids (Google)
A sweet sight: Entering Cedar Rapids (Google)
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One thing I've observed every day when I drive is that no one... let me repeat, NO ONE goes the posted speed limit. The speed limit on 1380 once you pass Evansdale is 70 mph.

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Everyone is either going much much faster or bizarrely slower. I am no saint, I average about 6 to 8 miles over the speed limit myself. But trust me when I tell you a vast majority of people passing me doing 85 or better.

Speeding in Iowa, and across the country, has led to increased patrols in some states, and an aggressive radio/TV and web campaign from the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).

Now, I will be honest. I never see many Iowa Highway Patrol vehicles aggressively targeting speeders. It's very rare that on either trip, to or from work, I see a single patrol vehicle.

That is until yesterday. What I saw on my drive yesterday happened on the drive home. As I was coming around the turn that bridges I-380 with highway 20 in Evansdale, which I learned from going to Google Maps is called Avenue of the Saints, I saw a vehicle pulled over... by an Evansdale police officer.

Not a shock they nailed someone here as the speed limit drops from 70 to 65. But still, a shock because it's someone pulled over!

Avenue of the Saints (Google)
Avenue of the Saints where I-380 and Hwy. 20 merge (Google)
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That's not all, about 4 miles down the road, still, in Evansdale, I saw another vehicle stopped on an off-ramp. This guy/gal was stopped by a Black Hawk County Sheriff officer.

To quote every infomercial, but wait, there's moooore! Before I reached the Evansdale/Waterloo border, I saw a third vehicle stopped for speeding. Like the first stopped car, this one was pulled over by an Evansdale police car.

I went from seeing an average of zero pulled-over vehicles during a normal week, to three in a roughly 6-mile radius. Needless to say, I went about the speed limit for a bit. After not seeing any more law enforcement the rest of my drive, I figured it was a speed sting isolated to Evansdale.

I did some searching and found no evidence of an announced speed trap, but if that was the case, it was a smart move and could go a long way in slowing down motorists. At least as they pass through Evansdale.

I have never seen this since moving back to Iowa in 2018, four cars stopped in such a short radius. I had seen a similar type of sting (I assume that's what this was) in other states I've lived in, but never here.

Drive safe!

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