AMES, Iowa – On recognition of May as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, the Iowa DOT reminds motorists and motorcyclists alike to “share the road” conscientiously and courteously to help prevent motorcycle crashes, which with 56 deaths in 2012, remains one of the most prevalent causes of death and injury on Iowa highways.

The safety campaign, initiated by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, state and local safety officials nationwide, and motorcycle safety groups everywhere, stresses the mutual responsibilities shared by all users of the road to prevent motorcycle crashes.

Toni Kerkove, Iowa DOT motorcycle rider education administrator, said, “Safety is a mutual responsibility for motorists and motorcyclists alike. Motorcyclists are about 30 times more likely to die in a crash than passenger vehicle occupants. So whether you are driving the family sedan, an SUV, a school bus, a delivery van or an 18-wheeler, drivers should always be on the lookout for motorcyclists. Drivers must be aware that a motorcycle, as one of the smallest vehicles on the road, can be ‘hiding’ in your vehicle’s blind spots. Always check blind spots, use mirrors and signal before changing lanes or making turns.”

Kerkove added, “Motorcyclists have responsibilities too. Riders should obey all traffic laws and be properly licensed, alert to other drivers, conspicuous at all times, never ride impaired or distracted, and always wear a U.S. DOT-compliant helmet and other protective gear.”

This safety advice is particularly timely as motorcycle fatalities in 2011 showed a continued increase to 4,612 nationally.  Motorcycle fatalities accounted for 14 percent of total highway deaths for the year despite motorcycle registrations representing only about 3 percent of all vehicles in the United States. Kerkove offered the following tips for drivers to help keep motorcyclists safe on our roadways.

• Remember, a motorcycle is a vehicle with all of the rights and privileges of any other motor vehicle. The person under that helmet could be a mother, brother, doctor or friend.
• Always allow a motorcyclist the full lane width — never try to share a lane.
• Perform a regular visual check for motorcycles by checking mirrors and blind spots before entering or exiting a lane of traffic, and at intersections.
• Always signal your intentions before changing lanes or merging with traffic.
• Don’t be fooled by a flashing turn signal on a mo­torcycle – motorcycle signals are often not self-canceling and riders sometimes forget to turn them off.  Wait to be sure the motorcycle is going to turn before you proceed.
• Allow more following distance — three or four sec­onds — when behind a motorcycle to give the motorcyclist time to maneuver around obstacles in the roadway, or stop in an emer­gency.
• Never drive distracted.

Kerkove said motorcyclists can increase their safety by:

• Wearing a DOT-compliant helmet.
• Using turn signals for every turn or lane change, even if the rider thinks no one will see it.
• Signaling intentions by combining hand signals and turn signals to draw the attention of other drivers.
• Wearing brightly colored protective gear, and using reflective tape and stickers to increase conspicuity.
• Positioning themselves in the lane where they will be most visible to other drivers.
• Never riding while impaired.

“Our message to all drivers and motorcyclists is: Help to share in the responsibility of keeping all road users safe, and do your part by safely sharing the road,” Kerkove concluded.

For additional information on motorcycle safety, go to http://www.nhtsa.gov/Safety/Motorcycles.

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Contact: Toni Kerkove at 641-423-1675 or toni.kerkove@dot.iowa.gov

In the spirit of cooperation, the Iowa Department of Transportation is urging both motorists and farm vehicle operators to exercise caution during the busy spring planting season.

Data for 2012 shows a total of 170 crashes involved farm equipment. Those crashes resulted in 12 fatalities, 11 major injuries, 35 minor injuries and 40 other possible injuries. Of the 170 crashes, 96 resulted only in property damage.

Below are the statistics for 2004 through 2012. The 2012 numbers are subject to change as law enforcement investigations are finalized.

Crashes Involving Farm Equipment/Vehicles and Resulting Fatalities and Injuries for Calendar Years 2004 through 2012

Tips for motorists

• Be alert and always watch for slow-moving vehicles, especially during planting and harvest seasons.
• Be patient and do not assume the equipment operator can move aside to let you pass. The shoulder may not be able to support a heavy farm vehicle.
• Slow down as soon as you see the triangular-shaped, red and fluorescent orange slow-moving vehicle emblem.

Tips for farm vehicle operators

• Make your intentions known when you are turning by using signal lights or the appropriate hand signal in advance of the turn.
• Drive slow-moving vehicles in the right-hand lane as close to the edge of the roadway as safely possible. Traveling partially on the shoulder may cause motorists to risk passing in a dangerous situation.
• Avoid encouraging or signaling motorists to pass. Pull over where it is safe, and let the traffic go by.
• Do not get trapped on the tracks; proceed through a highway-rail grade crossing only if you are sure you can completely clear the crossing without stopping. Remember, the train extends 3 feet beyond the tracks on both sides.

Contact: Jeremey Vortherms at 515-239-1267 or jeremey.vortherms@dot.iowa.gov

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U.S. businesses and consumers have shown surprising muscle in recent weeks, shrugging off for now the impact of higher taxes, a flare-up of trouble in Europe and the budget cuts that took hold this month.

Gauges of employment, retail sales and manufacturing all have notched healthy—if not blockbuster—gains, prompting many economists to ratchet up estimates for first-quarter growth. In a Wall Street Journal survey last week, economists raised their estimate of gross domestic product for the first quarter to an average annual rate of 2.2%, up from a 1.7% estimate in January.

“A number of strong data points,” on retail sales, jobs and housing spurred David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Insurance, to raise his estimate for first-quarter GDP growth to 2.8% from around 2%. “The government cut spending very little” in March, he said, so the effects are likely to be felt more later in the year.

It’s now clear that consumers and businesses absorbed January’s and February’s higher payroll taxes and gas prices without losing their footing. What is unclear is whether the momentum can be sustained in an environment where there is deep mistrust of lawmakers’ ability to clear obstacles to growth.

Some of the factors that threatened consumers at the start of the year are expected to recede in the second quarter. Gas prices climbed almost 50 cents in January and February and have been falling in March. Consumers are adjusting to the bite from higher payroll taxes. Tax refunds, some delayed by wrangling over the fiscal cliff, failed to mute February’s retail sales and could help lift March’s numbers. And confidence has been buoyed by rising home values, the bull market in stocks and easier access to credit.

However, there is much ground to be made up. The 7.7% unemployment rate has eased from the 10% level of October 2009 but is far from the 4.7% average for the months leading up to the recession in 2007. And while housing appeared to turn a corner last year, the market has a long way to go to dig out from the depths of the bust.

The Federal Reserve, noting the economy’s improvements, has been reluctant to react too abruptly by pulling back from its easy-money policy. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, noting Wednesday that previous spurts in the jobs market had been short-lived, said central-bank policy makers will be looking not only for enduring labor-market strength but also “broad-based improvement in a range of indicators.”

Washington’s budget battles are perhaps the biggest headwind. Most experts expect spending cuts known as the sequester to weigh on growth in coming months as the reductions, which were triggered March 1, take effect. The Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, estimates the sequester could shave 0.5% from GDP growth in 2013.

The chief executive of Kirkland’s Inc., a Nashville, Tenn., retailer of lamps, mirrors and other home merchandise across 35 states pointed to such concerns in an earnings call this month. “Given the recent rise in taxes, the sequester, plus the inability of the Fed to provide more in the way of positive impetus, slow economic growth seems to be the most likely scenario for all, or most, of 2013, absent new positive economic developments,” CEO Robert Alderson said on the call.

That wariness is widespread and largely precluding local businesses from going all-in on spending.

While the housing market’s gains have boosted forestry company M.A. Rigoni Inc., Richard Schwab, manager of procurement and new-business development says he is spending cautiously until he sees further momentum as well as fiscal clarity from Washington.

“When everyone else had a recession, because of the housing bust, the wood-products industry went into a downright depression,” Mr. Schwab says.

The downturn chastened Mr. Schwab and Perry, Fla.-based M.A. Rigoni—which grows and harvests pine trees to make paper and lumber. The firm weathered the past few years by “figuring out more efficient ways to produce wood and truck it,” Mr. Schwab says. The firm cut its overhead by containing fuel costs and trimming its work force from between 50 and 55 employees during the boom to 40 today. For some logging and trucking duties, Mr. Schwab has about 45 or 50 subcontractors, who are employed by other companies and to whom he pays fixed rates.

Mr. Schwab says business picked up after lumber prices rose in mid-2012, when the housing market’s initial improvement spurred saw mills to ramp up to meet greater demand for building supplies. But he is putting off hiring or investing in capital equipment and raw materials.

Florida restaurateur Burt Rapoport is seeing the momentum—and the skepticism—in his five restaurants in Palm Beach County.

Mr. Rapoport says first-quarter sales are up between 5% and 8% from the year-ago period—but bar bills at dinner are down. “A lot of them are telling us that they have a drink at home before they go out,” he says.

But they are still going out: Mr. Rapoport just opened his fifth restaurant, Burt & Max’s Bar and Grille, four weeks ago. The restaurant “has been full every night and there has been over an hour wait for tables every night,” he says.

Still, Mr. Rapoport says uncertainty about fiscal policy and the effects of the coming health-care law are keeping him from expanding further. “At this point,” he says, “we know the landscape is going to change, but we don’t know how it’s going to change.”

Write to Brenda Cronin at brenda.cronin@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared March 23, 2013, on page A3 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Economy Shows Surprising Bounce.

 Asphalt Awards:

NAPA Quality in Construction Award – Hwy 146, Mahaska Co. & Poweshiek Co.
NAPA Diamond Achievement Commendation for Excellent in HMA Plant Site Operation – Newton facility
QMA Award for Primary Paving Projects – US Hwy 162, Story Co.
QMA Award for Primary Resurfacing Projects – Hwy 146, Mahaska Co. & Poweshiek Co.
Park Lot/Heavy Industrial Paving Projects – National Center for Animal Health, Site Entrance, Story Co.

Concrete Awards:

Municipal Streets and Intersections < 5,000 SY – Belle Plaine Downtown Reconstruction – Belle Plaine, IA
Traffic Management – Hwy 18, Chickasaw Co. & Fayette Co.
County Roads – V-13 Mahaska Co.
PCC Overlays > 8,000 SY – Hwy 18, Chickasaw Co. & Fayette Co.
Subdivisions < 15,000 SY – Pioneer Hi-Bred Krug/Mendel Improvements, Johnston, IA
Commercial/Industrial Building > 5,000 SY – UNI Apartment Housing, Panther Court, Cedar Falls, IA

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