Minnesota Traffic Deaths 2006

Below is a news release from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety regarding Minnesota traffic deaths in 2006. Pritzker | Ruohonen, a premier Minnesota personal injury law firm, is reprinting the Department of Public Safety news release as a public service. The firm has extensive experience with Minnesota car accident and wrongful death cases and has collected millions for accident victims, including a recent settlement for $3,750,000. To contact a lawyer at Pritzker | Ruohonen for a free consultation, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or fill out the firm’s online-consultation form.

MINNESOTA TRAFFIC DEATHS DROP TO LOWEST LEVEL SINCE WWII
Progress in Drive Toward Zero Deaths Tempered by Nearly 500 Deaths

ST. PAUL – January 2, 2007 – Preliminary 2006 Minnesota traffic death figures reflect 67 fewer deaths than in 2005 — a 12 percent decrease. The 475 deaths — including five killed over the year’s final weekend — cap three consecutive years of fewer traffic fatalities since 2003 when there were 655 deaths. While noting the dramatic progress, Department of Public Safety officials deemed the nearly 500 deaths “preventable tragedies,” and called on all Minnesota motorists to commit to driving the state toward zero deaths.

The current 2006 death count is the lowest number of annual traffic deaths recorded in the state since 1945. The 2005 preliminary death total was 542 at this time last year; the final 2005 traffic death count was 559. The 2006 total reflects motorists (360), motorcyclists (64), pedestrians (38), bicyclists (8), ATV operators (2), snowmobilers (2), and motor scooter operator (1). The tally will rise as more reports are received from police departments and county sheriffs.

While pedestrian deaths decreased slightly and bicyclist fatalities increased, there were 64 motorcyclists’ deaths in 2006, six more than 2005, continuing a decade-long state and national upward trend. While motorcycles account for only 3 percent of registered vehicles in Minnesota, motorcyclists represented 13 percent of all traffic deaths in 2006.

Common themes from previous years are expected to surface in analysis of last year’s crash data according to Kathy Swanson, director of the Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). “Teens and young adults, especially males, are those most often killed in crashes,” says Swanson. “The most frequent factors in fatal crashes — the great majority of which occur in greater Minnesota — are speed, unbelted passengers, and impaired driving.”

The significant decrease in traffic deaths is attributed in part to the Toward Zero Deaths program which combines the resources of state and local agencies, county engineers and community organizations to address traffic safety issues through the “Four Es”: enforcement, engineering, education, and emergency trauma care.

While acknowledging that the reduction in traffic deaths was significant, Swanson warns against complacency. “Hundreds of families will lose members next year by sudden, violent means — and this should be intolerable to all Minnesotans. If we can help affect fewer than 500 deaths in 2006, this coming year we must aim for 400 or fewer.”

Several statewide enforcement efforts in 2006 yielded dramatic results. During HEAT (highway enforcement of aggressive traffic), law enforcement agencies stopped more than 88,000 vehicles and cited nearly 34,000 drivers for illegal speed. According to MnDOT data, there were fewer vehicles traveling more than 10 miles over the posted speed limit both in the metro and greater Minnesota. HEAT also yielded more than 45,000 speed warnings, as well as nearly 14,000 citations for non-speed related offenses.

Seat belt enforcement campaigns in May and October resulted in more than 19,000 seat belt citations. A three-week effort targeting impaired drivers in August resulted in 2,500 DWI arrests. The number of DWIs from a similar effort in December will be announced in January. NightCAP, a federally funded program targeting the state’s 13 deadliest counties for impaired driving fatalities, netted nearly 2,800 DWIs as well as 17,000 other traffic citations. OTS officials anticipate a record high of 40,000 DWI arrests in 2006.

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