March highway deaths at record low

Fewer people died in Wisconsin traffic crashes last month than in any previous month of March going back to 1937 when the state began compiling monthly traffic fatality figures.

In March, 21 people died in 21 traffic crashes in Wisconsin, according to preliminary statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

In terms of traffic fatalities, the state’s previous safest month of March occurred in 2008 and 2009 with 28 deaths. The deadliest March was in 1970 with 99 fatalities.

Traffic deaths last month were seven fewer than in March 2009 and 24 fewer than the five-year average for the month of March. As of March 31, a total of 74 people have died in Wisconsin traffic crashes during 2010, including three motorcyclists and seven pedestrians. Traffic deaths through March were 20 fewer than during the same period in 2009 and 58 fewer than the five-year average.

“We made it through winter with the lowest number of traffic deaths in decades. January, for instance, had the lowest number of traffic fatalities of any month on record,” said Dennis Hughes, chief of safety programs for the DOT Bureau of Transportation Safety.

“But now with clear roads and nicer weather, excessive speeding will likely increase. At higher speeds, crashes are more violent and therefore more deadly. We also now have more motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians on roadways, so drivers need to slow down and pay attention to prevent crashes that kill and injure.