MADISON (WITI) -- The Wisconsin Department of Transportation revealed on Friday, January 2nd that Wisconsin ended 2014 with 491 traffic fatalities, which was the lowest number of deaths and the first time below 500 fatalities since 1943 when 417 people in died in crashes.
State traffic deaths in 2014 also were down 36 (approximately a 7 percent reduction) from 2013 when 527 people died and 68 fewer than the five-year average of 559 deaths.
David Pabst, director of the WisDOT Bureau of Transportation Safety, noted several factors that contributed to the reduction in traffic deaths. He pointed out that safety belt use in Wisconsin reached an all-time high in 2014 with nearly 85 percent of drivers and passengers buckling up. However, Wisconsin’s safety belt use rate still lags behind the national average of 87 percent and is below neighboring states, all of which have safety belt use rates of more than 90 percent.