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DES MOINES, IOWA (AP) -- Iowa officials say they are targeting distractions to drivers to lower the number of traffic deaths in the state.

Iowa had 426 traffic fatalities in 2007. That's fewer than 2006 and 2005 but more than 2004, when the state recorded its lowest number of traffic deaths since World War II.

At the time, state officials hoped the number would continue to fall, but it didn't.

Now, officials say they are targeting distractions, such as cell phones and vehicle video systems in an effort to reduce the number of people killed on Iowa roads.

Tom Welch, a state safety engineer with the Iowa Department of Transportation, says that features like rumble strips are being added to roads to help prevent accidents, but that the big challenge is to keep drivers from being distracted in the first place.

(Copyright ©2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)