September Was Wisconsin’s Safest in 70 Years

Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation reported Oct. 4 that the state’s 45 traffic deaths in September were the fewest in that month since the end of World War II.

Those 45 deaths were also 23 fewer than occurred in September 2015, 13 below the current five-year average, and a whopping 68 below the record of 116 set in 1973.

“September was a very wet month in many areas of the state, which may have reduced traffic and as a result moderated the number of serious traffic crashes,” said David Pabst, director of WisDOT’s Bureau of Transportation Safety.

However, through the first nine months of 2016, there had been 440 traffic fatalities in Wisconsin, 18 more than during the same period in 2015 and 28 more than the five-year average.