News release: April traffic fatalities

Last month tied for the fourth safest month of April in terms of traffic deaths since the end of WWII

Last month, 41 people died in 35 crashes on Wisconsin roadways, which tied it for the fourth safest month of April in terms of traffic deaths since the end of World War II, according to preliminary statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT).  The safest month of April since the end of World War II occurred in 1998 with 34 traffic fatalities, and the deadliest April was in 1977 with 113 fatalities.

Traffic fatalities last month were three more than in April 2011 but seven fewer than the five-year average for the month of April. As of April 30, a total of 152 people have died in Wisconsin traffic crashes this year, including 13 motorcyclists and nine pedestrians.  Traffic deaths through April were 24 more than the same period in 2011 but one fewer than the five-year average.

“Traffic deaths so far this year continue to be higher than the same period last year in large part because of unbuckled drivers and passengers who sustained fatal injuries while being ejected with tremendous force from a vehicle or tossed around violently inside it during a crash,” says State Patrol Maj. Sandra Huxtable, director of the WisDOT Bureau of Transportation Safety. “To prevent deaths and injuries, law enforcement agencies from all over Wisconsin will be out in force to crackdown on unbuckled motorists during the annual Click It or Ticket mobilization from May 21 to June 3. Whenever officers observe unbelted drivers and passengers, they will stop the vehicle and issue citations.  Officers are serious about safety belt enforcement because lives are destroyed, families are devastated, and society suffers substantial economic losses when people are needlessly killed or seriously injured in crashes because they were not wearing a safety belt.”

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NOTE: View this document on the Web at www.dot.wisconsin.gov/news/index.htm and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WisDOT. 

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