Drivers Speeding, Districted, And Dying On State Roads

ACROSS MINNESOTA—Nearly 400 people have died on Minnesota roads so far in 2020. The number has the Department of Public Safety alarmed. At the same point last year, 358 people died on the roadways.

"Whatever New Year’s resolutions you decide on, the Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) is asking you and all Minnesotans to add one to the top of the list: Drive safely," the agency recently wrote. "To put it more bluntly: People are dying needlessly on Minnesota roads. And it has to stop."

The agency attributes distracted and speeding drivers, drunk drivers, and people opting not to wear a seatbelt as major reasons for the deaths.

Agency officials also noted an exponential increase in the number of serious speed-related violations and traffic fatalities taking place on Minnesota roads compared to last year.

The lighter traffic and sometimes empty roads tempt drivers to push their cars in excess of 100 mph all too often, the agency explained.

More than 1,000 speeding tickets have been issued by the Minnesota State Patrol for speeds of 100 MPH or more so far in 2020. That's a serious jump compared to the roughly 530 tickets for those excessive speeds in all of 2019.

OTS will be dedicating extra attention to the speeding crisis early next year, according to the agency.