Who pays when a semi knocks over a traffic light?

Decorah Police are investigating yet another incident in which a semi trailer hit and knocked over a traffic signal on Water Street.

City of Decorah officials say it costs between $5,000 to $8,000 each time a traffic light has to be repaired.  If the city can learn which company owned the semi that struck a traffic light, it will file a claim with that company's insurance carrier, seeking to be paid for the costs of repairing the traffic light.

However, Decorah Police Chief David Smutzler says it wasn't immediately known which company owned the semi which was involved in the most recent traffic signal accident.  However, that doesn't mean the investigation is at a dead end.  Smutzler says police have been searching for security camera video footage which might have been taken of the intersection where the accident occurred.  Their search has been unsuccessful so far, but Decorah Police are asking anyone with video footage or with personal experience seeing the accident to contact the police department.