Drive carefully during 100 deadliest days on Minnesota roads

Summer in Minnesota brings sunshine and the excitement of school being out for summer and families heading out on vacation.
However, all the campers, trailers and extra vehicle traffic makes the next 100 days the deadliest days for traffic fatalities on Minnesota roads.
That’s why the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety issued a reminder this week that law enforcement will be out in extra patrols to remind motorists to drive safely.
According to DPS, 2021 was the deadliest summer for travelers since 2007, which had 179 fatalities that summer. That same 100-day stretch last year accounted for 167 of the 488 traffic fatalities. That’s 34 percent of all the traffic deaths in 2021.
In 2020, 158 people were killed on Minnesota roads during the 100-day stretch. That was 40 percent of all traffic deaths that year.
Preliminary numbers show 124 fatalities so far on Minnesota roads in 2022.
 
Your final destination is never guaranteed
Driver behaviors continue to play a significant role in motor vehicle crashes with speed, distraction, lack of seat belt use and drunk driving the top contributing factors in Minnesota road fatalities.
Troopers, deputies and officers are conducting extra seat belt enforcement now through June 5.
Data shows 108 unbelted motorists died in 2021 compared with 105 in 2020.
As the weather heats up, so do speeds. Extra enforcement to slow down speeding motorists will take place July 1 through July 31.
Alcohol-related crashes not only take lives, they change them forever. Alcohol-related crashes contributed to an average of 368 life-changing injuries each year from 2017-2021. The extra impaired enforcement campaign runs Aug. 19 through Sept. 5.
The Minnesota State Patrol will continue “Highway Enforcement for Aggressive Traffic” (HEAT) patrols through the summer to target speed and criminal activity.
Project 20(22) traffic patrols will happen over four more weekends this summer. Teams of troopers will focus on the deadliest traffic violations: speed, lack of seat belt use, distraction and impairment.
 
Drive smart and save lives
If you are with a driver who is distracted, speak up, tell them to put the phone down.
Refuse to drive until every passenger is buckled up.
Slow down; trying to save a few minutes of drive time isn’t worth causing a crash.
Plan ahead before you go out by designating a sober driver, and if you see a person who has had too much to drink, speak up and find them a safe ride home.