Iowa nice apparently doesn't apply to our winter driving habits.

With plenty of freezing rain, strong gusting winds and heavy amounts of snowfall, there's no denying it's been a very rough winter.

Driving conditions have been challenging all season long. At times Iowa's roads and highways have been shut down due to blizzard-like conditions, and on several occasions it was impossible to safely travel at all.

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Motor vehicle accidents in bad weather are inevitable, and for the most part, are unexpected. But the number of accidents involving snow plows and other official Iowa DOT vehicles is embarrassing.

It's proof that Iowa drivers are just not paying attention.

On Wednesday it was reported that an Iowa DOT worker survived a grisly auto accident on Monday February 22, that was caused by a distracted driver.

On Friday KWWL posted a story that the Iowa Department of Transportation revealed an astonishing report showing that a combined total of 63 DOT vehicles had been struck by careless motorists this winter.

Add up the tally and you'll see that fifty snow plows were struck by bad Iowa drivers. In January alone, a total of 22 Iowa DOT snow plows were struck along with 4 other official vehicles.

Iowa Dept. of Transportation
Iowa Dept. of Transportation
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It's true that sometimes accidents cannot be avoided no matter how cautious one may be driving. Slippery highways and overpasses are often unforgiving. And when motorists travel too fast for conditions, bad things happen.

Theresa Fox, Facebook
Theresa Fox, Facebook
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The Iowa DOT posted reminders on their social media sites that every vehicle taken out of commission by a careless driver is one less vehicle able to assist in times of snow emergencies. Their best advice? Give the DOT drivers plenty of room and don't crowd the plow.

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

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