• 12
  • January
    2012

The good news? Traffic deaths stayed relatively low in Wisconsin last year. The not great news? There were still a lot of traffic fatalities. Car accidents in the state caused fewer than 600 deaths in 2011, according to statistics released last week by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. This is the fourth year in a row that the number of such fatalities has dipped below 600.

The exact number of traffic fatalities last year was 569, a slight increase of seven over the year before, but a significant decline of 59 over the average number of car accident deaths for the past five years. According to the Capital Times, the last time Wisconsin had four years in a row with fewer than 600 traffic fatalities was a period from 1924 to 1927.

The department could not attribute the recent decline in traffic fatalities to a single factor. A spokesperson indicated that the poor economy and the relatively high price of gasoline may have played a role in decreasing the number of cars on the road.

Deaths from motorcycle accidents were also down a significant 18 percent from the year before, falling to 85 from 103.

The spokesperson also emphasized that it was possible to do even better in the future. She asserted that many of the 569 traffic fatalities that occurred in 2011 could have been prevented by improving careless driving habits and avoiding irresponsible choices made behind the wheel.

Source: The Capital Times, "State traffic deaths under 600 for fourth straight year," Bill Novak, Jan. 4, 2012