Zero traffic deaths over Christmas holiday is a first in four years

The Department of Public Safety says the state reported no traffic fatalities over the Christmas holiday, the first time that's happened in four years.

Department of Public Safety spokesman Nathan Bowie said the winter storm that struck just before Christmas may have actually contributed to the relative safety of the roads over the weekend.

"Typically over a holiday, if it's Fourth of July or Thanksgiving, we'll see 10 to 12 deaths a year. But this is positive; zero deaths," Bowie said. "People were traveling safely, and that means that they were together with their families over the holiday."

Bowie said the state is running slightly ahead of last year on traffic deaths overall, although complete numbers aren't immediately available. There were 421 deaths in Minnesota last year, the lowest number of traffic fatalities since 1944.