Double Threat to Iowa Drivers This Time of Year

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new review of accident data says Iowa drivers have a 1 in 68 chance of striking a deer on the road this year.

Insurer State Farm said in a news release Monday that Iowa's is the third-highest rate in the nation. The state had the fourth-highest rate last year.

Neighboring Nebraska's rate for 2015 is 1 in 143, ranking it 25th on the State Farm list. The state ranked 23rd on the 2014 list.

Leading the 2015 list in West Virginia, with a rate of 1 in 44. No. 2 is Montana, where the rate is 1 in 63. The national odds this year are 1 in 169.

State Farm says its estimate is derived from claims data and state licensed driver counts from the Federal Highway Administration.

And, for drivers in Midwestern farm country, the growing season brings a special danger on the roads: tall corn that can obscure other vehicles until it's too late.

The plant's broad leaves and thick stalks can stand up to 12 feet high, forming a wall of foliage that turns rural roads into long, narrow corridors of green, yellow and brown. Many intersections have no stop signs.

The peril is especially pervasive in Iowa, the nation's top corn producer, where crops cover more than 90 percent of the land. At least five people have been killed so far this season in crashes blamed on corn.

Authorities issue warnings, but they can do little more than plead with drivers to use caution.

The problem is also widespread across Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota and Indiana.