Mackenzie Davis Created: February 03, 2021 06:41 PM
(ABC 6 NEWS) - Fewer drivers have been on the roads during the pandemic and are more tempted to speed, resulting in more crashes.
Freeborn County is seeing serious traffic crashes and fatalities on the rise. You have less vehicle traffic, less miles traveled, but you have an increase in the number of crashes and they should not be adding up. With less people out, you should have less crashes, Lt. Jeffrey Strom of Albert Lea Police Department said.
According to the Minnesota State Patrol, the state saw a 100% increase from 2019 to 2020 in the number of citations written to those speeding over 100 mph.
Bike Safety Course Coming to City Heights
By Mario A. Cortez
Local residents interested in learning about bicycle road safety can attend a class being offered by the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition on Saturday, Feb. 2 starting at 9 a.m. at the Copley-Price YMCA in City Heights.
The three-hour session is aimed at cyclists of all skill levels and will cover general bike safety, emergency maneuvers, legal aspects of cycling, and rider responsibilities. The course will include a classroom learning segment which will be complemented by a on-bike session where attendees can put to practice what they have just learned.
Jan. 8, 2021 5:30 am ET
Last year, stay-at-home orders to combat Covid-19 cleared the roads of congestion. Fewer competing vehicles should have made driving safer but instead, the rate of fatal crashes climbed as unimpeded speed demons put the pedal to the metal.
Now, traffic is back to normal in many areas, but some lead-footed drivers are still going full throttle.
“The unfortunate part is we haven’t seen that behavior abate,” said Michael J. Hanson, director of the Office of Traffic Safety at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
From April 1 to May 21, Minnesota State Patrol ticketed 232 drivers for going more than 100 mph. By the end of the year, troopers had issued more than 1,000 citations for going that fast around double the number from the previous year. The top speed in the state, recorded on a citation written in October, was 153 mph.
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