On Wednesday evening, Joey Marshall Williams, 58, of Minneapolis, tragically lost his life after being struck by a vehicle in the Twin Cities ¹. According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, Williams died from severe blunt force injuries. The Bloomington Police Department reported that Williams was walking along East Old Shakopee Road, near the Minnesota River’s backwaters, when the collision occurred at 10:50 p.m. He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where he died from his injuries less than an hour later. This incident is one of nine traffic-related fatalities in Minnesota in the past week.
Traffic fatalities in Minnesota are nearly double what they were last year, with 45 people having died in fatal crashes as of Tuesday ². The warmer weather seems to be bringing riskier driving, with people not slowing down for snow and ice like they usually do in January and February. Minnesota’s warmest January on record brought a slim total of 2 inches of snow, 9 inches fewer than the average January. Although more crashes occur in winter, they are more often fender benders and minor injury crashes. It’s the warmer months that bring more fatalities.
The leading months for fatal crashes in Minnesota are July, September, and August, based on data from 2020-2022 and preliminary data for 2023 ². Those months average about 49 traffic fatalities each month. For those same years, January and February averaged 20. There are four main factors that increase the risk for fatalities: speed, impaired driving, distracted driving, and driving without a seatbelt.
Impaired driving is another trend that concerns authorities ². Although the numbers are preliminary, an unusually large portion of the fatal crashes this year involved impaired drivers. As of Feb. 15, 10 crashes involved drivers under the influence, whether that be alcohol, cannabis, or other drugs. At that point last year, that number was three.
Some of the smart decisions authorities want drivers to remember include buckling up, following speed limits, and planning ahead for a sober ride home or place to stay if out drinking or using other substances that can impair ². Now is the time to start developing those good safe driving habits, and let’s carry them through the summer and reverse this terrible trend that we’re seeing.
In other news, at least six people were killed in four separate crashes across Minnesota over the weekend ³. The State Patrol reported that two women died Saturday afternoon along Interstate 94 at Highway 241 in St. Michael, northwest of the Twin Cities. Their eastbound Nissan SUV was hit by two tires that broke off a semi traveling west on the freeway just before 5 p.m. The Patrol said the driver of the SUV, 44-year-old Viengkhone Nguyen of Brooklyn Park, and one of the passengers, 43-year-old Lea Khamphachanh of St. Cloud, died at the scene. Three other passengers in the SUV were transported to a hospital.
Both drivers died when a car and a Mack truck collided at an intersection in Renville County on Saturday morning. The West Central Tribune reports it happened at the corner of county roads 4 and 5, south of Bird Island.
A woman died in a crash Saturday night along State Highway 169 northeast of Virginia. The Patrol said traffic was backed up from an earlier incident when a northbound Chevrolet Impala struck the back of a stopped pickup truck. A passenger in the Impala, 61-year-old Cathy Marjorie Johnson of Tower, died at the scene. Two other people in the car and three people in the truck were taken to a hospital in Virginia.
A motorcycle rider died Sunday afternoon after going off the road along State Highway 60 between West Albany and Wabasha in Wabasha County. The Patrol identified the rider as 36-year-old Jeffrey Patrick Nelson of Lakeville.
At last report, state traffic safety officials said 312 traffic fatalities had been reported in Minnesota so far in 2023. At the same point last year, the state had seen 366 traffic deaths.
Preliminary reports show there were 394 traffic deaths on Minnesota roads in 2020, compared with 364 in 2019 ⁴. These declines are the result of conscious decision-making on traffic safety issues. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that traffic fatalities throughout the country (according to preliminary data from the National Safety Council) and 394 in Minnesota ⁵. The respective fatality rates per hundred million miles of travel were 1.37 and 0.76.
