The Iowa Department of Transportation is giving motorists a front-seat view with cameras mounted on the dash of snowplows. John Hart in the D-O-T maintenance office says they tested the project in central Iowa and decided it provides some good data.

They use an i-Phone 4-s provided at no cost by the carrier with the purchase of a data plan.

The D-O-T has had several stationary cameras in place along roadways for years. Hart says the mobile pictures add much more information.

Pictures from the snowplow cameras are updated every 30 minutes. The D-O-T hopes to have the camera coverage over most of the state by next winter.