Traffic fatalities up 38% in South Dakota from 2019’s record low

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Department of Public Safety says 141 people died in traffic crashes in 2020, increasing 38% from a year earlier. The number of crashes in which the fatalities occurred was 132 last year according to statistics released by the department Wednesday.

In 2019, 102 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes, the lowest in state history since records have been kept beginning in 1947. The number of fatal crashes in 2019 was 88, also a record low.

DPS Secretary Craig Price says the 2020 total is the state’s highest since 2007. He says the department plans to increase its safety and enforcement efforts.

April 15, 2021