Less traffic accidents this summer compared to last summer, report says

The following is a news release from the Idaho Transportation Department.

BOISE — This summer, 91 people died as a result of traffic crashes according to preliminary data from the Idaho Transportation Department. This is down from the summer of 2018, when 101 people were killed in crashes during the same time period.

The summer months typically bring with them an uptick in deadly crashes both in Idaho and nationally. Because of this trend, the period of time between Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend is often referred to as the 100 Deadliest Days of Summer Driving.

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“Summer driving is a big concern of ours,” said Highway Safety Manager John Tomlinson. “This is why we work so closely with law enforcement agencies and other partners throughout the state to promote safe, engaged driving.”

This summer, the Office of Highway Safety (OHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration funded four high visibility enforcements. During these different enforcement periods, law enforcement agencies were provided grant funding to put extra officers on the roads, looking for seat belt violations and aggressive and impaired drivers.

In addition to these grant-funded mobilizations, several media campaigns ran statewide encouraging everyone on the roads to make safe choices.

“It’s so important to get these messages out to the public,” Tomlinson said. “Our law enforcement partners do wonderful work but they can’t be everywhere. If we are going to prevent these fatal crashes, we need drivers to make smart and safe choices.”

100 Deadliest Days at a Glance:

The majority of the 91 people killed in crashes were in passenger vehicles.

Breakdown:

• 62 Automobile
• 17 Motorcycle
• 6 Other (ATV/UTV)
• 4 Pedestrian
• 2 Pedacycle

Quick facts:

• 75 people died in crashes on rural roads and 16 people were killed on urban roads.
• In the 51 passenger vehicle fatalities, 28 people were not wearing seatbelts.
• Failure to maintain a lane was a contributing factor in 23 fatalities.
• Impairment was a contributing factor in 17 fatalities.
• 13 fatalities involved an aggressive-driving behavior.
• 8 fatalities involved inattentive driving.

*Data is preliminary and may be subject to change.