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300 People Have Died On Minnesota Roads This Year

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - The death of a 29-year-old man in a Hubbard County rollover crash Friday marked the 300th death on Minnesota roads this year.

Traffic fatalities have actually fallen in recent years. and there are 33 fewer deaths so far this year than were reported this time  in 2013, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Deaths on Minnesota roads have decreased dramatically from a high of 1,060 in 1968, but there haven't been fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year since 1922, when the Model T was still in production.

The DPS said that while driver distraction and speeding are among the top contributors to crashes, alcohol is the top factor in fatalities, responsible for 20 percent of Minnesota traffic deaths.
"As winter approaches and road conditions become more challenging, always follow the rules of the road, so your loved ones aren't left celebrating the holidays without you," Donna Berger, traffic safety director at the DPS, said in a statement . "We can all do our part to avoid becoming a statistic. Slow down, buckle up, drive sober and focus on the road."
Here are the year-end death statistics for the last decade in Minnesota:
  • 2004 – 567
  • 2005 – 559
  • 2006 – 494
  • 2007 – 510
  • 2008 – 455
  • 2009 – 421
  • 2010 – 411
  • 2011 – 368
  • 2012 – 395
  • 2013 – 387

 

 

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