Sad milestone: 2015 Minnesota road deaths already top 2014
There's nearly a month left to go in 2015, but more people have died so far this year on Minnesota roads than during all of 2014, state officials said Wednesday.
Accidents during the last week pushed the toll to 365 people dead on Minnesota roads in 2015 compared with 361 for all of last year, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said in a statement.
Those recent deaths included a 24-year-old Byron, Minn., man who died after a head-on collision in Olmsted County, a 60-year-old Rochester, Minn., man who was killed while standing at an Olmsted County intersection and a 42-year-old Pine River, Minn., man who lost control of his vehicle, hit a sign and rolled, the department said.
Officials pleaded for motorists to "recommit to safe driving habits so they can spend their holidays at home with family and friends and not at a funeral home planning to bury a loved one."
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The 2015 deaths include:
• 61 motorcyclists, compared with 45 this time last year
• 36 pedestrians, compared with 16 this time last year
• 10 bicyclists, compared with five this time last year
Distracted driving was involved in 20 percent of fatalities, while drunk driving was tied to 25 percent of deaths, the department said, adding that half of those who were killed in a vehicle were not wearing a seat belt.
Despite the grim 2015 data, deaths are down 35 percent from a decade ago, officials said, thanks to a "focus on education, enforcement, engineering and emergency medical services."