Slight Uptick in South Dakota Highway Fatalities

The state Department of Public Safety says highway fatalities in South Dakota are up slightly this year after a 20 percent drop in 2011.

Department spokesman Terry Woster tells the Argus Leader that 125 people have died in automobile accidents in the state so far this year.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics show that 111 people in South Dakota died in highway crashes in 2011, compared with 140 in 2010.

Highway Safety director Lee Axdahl says despite this year’s slight uptick, the numbers reflect how far the state has come with highway safety.

Axdahl says the department needs to continue to work to bring those numbers down. Deaths from motorcycle crashes were cut in half, and state surveys show that about three-quarters of South Dakotans are buckling up.