Iowa Department of Transportation officials say adding blue and white lights to a snow plow greatly reduces the chance of a crash between the plow and other motorists on the road. Craig Bargfrede, the DOT’s winter operations administrator, says a pilot project launched two years ago involved adding the blue-white scheme to plows in the Des Moines area.
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Bargfrede says the blue and white lights do a better job of grabbing the attention of motorists approaching a plow.
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The plows involved in the pilot project still have an amber rotating light, but there are also flashing, rear-facing blue and white lights on the truck. The data collection is currently slated to continue through this winter, but the DOT plans to ask lawmakers to bypass the final year of the pilot project.
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