A string of eight vehicle deaths in a four-day period this month has South Dakota Department of Public Safety officials again urging people to be careful on the state’s roads.
Officials say the deaths occurred in six different crashes statewide from Sept. 15-18.
Director of the state Office of Highway Safety Lee Axdahl says the early part of September has had at least 10 recorded motor vehicle fatalities, double the amount of fatalities for the same month last year.
Axdahl says the crashes have ranged from single-vehicle rollovers to multiple-vehicle crashes. He says preliminary investigations indicate speed or alcohol may have played a role in some of the crashes and at least some of the victims were not wearing seatbelts.
South Dakota is on pace to end 2019 with fewer than 100 roadway fatalities for the first time ever, but Axdahl says the recent tragedies are a reminder safe driving must be priority all of the time. He says accidents happen in the blink of an eye and nobody wants to be remembered as a traffic statistic.
