(Radio Iowa) -The first days of the summer travel season arrive this weekend and the Iowa Department of Transportation reminds that despite it being a holiday, drivers need to obey the rules in construction zones. Pete Hjelmstad, with the D-O-T’s Mason City office, says even though work crews will likely not be in those areas this weekend, you need to obey the posted speed limits. “Those speed limits, when those signs are up, whether people are there working or not, you need to slow down to that new speed limit,” Hjelmstad says. “As long as the sign is telling you to slow down, I don’t care if it’s 3 in the morning when you are working an overnight shift and you’re driving through a work zone with nobody there, or if it’s a Saturday and there’s a lane closure and there’s nobody working, you still need to slow down to that new speed limit.”

Hjelmstad says during this Memorial Day weekend, Iowans need to slow down and focus on driving — and not other things inside the car.  “Keep the cell phones down,” he says. “We always talk about that as a distraction, but there are all kinds of other distractions in the vehicle, too, as far as from talking to your passengers, to looking in the back seat to see what the kids are doing, to playing with a navigational system or radio or whatever. Anytime you’re driving, try to leave that stuff alone, but it’s even more important when you’re driving through a work zone.”

The D-O-T’s Pete Hjelmstad says you can use the D-O-T website 511ia.org to find out about where road construction is happening. He adds, most states have their own version of that website.

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On Wednesday, the Iowa State Patrol posted on social media, a picture of a dash-mounted radar showing a vehicle was traveling 111-mph on I-35 southbound, near Van Wert. Trooper Nguyen encountered the Kansas City driver that was passing through Iowa Monday. The driver claimed they were “unaware of the speed limit”. The Patrol said ” NEWSFLASH – nowhere in the United States is the speed limit OVER 100 MPH on a roadway.”