Traffic fatalities are down in Shawano County and across Wisconsin, officials reported this week.
As of Tuesday, the county had five traffic fatalities, way down from the 13 reported at the same time last year. Mike Panosh of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation told the county Highway Safety Commission that the state reported 431 fatalities, 80 fewer than the same time period in 2012.
“Last year was just one of those years,” Panosh said. “Hopefully that was just an anomaly. If you remember, last year was very, very dry, and the better the weather conditions, the more people travel. The more vehicle miles traveled, the more accidents you have.”
Motorcycle fatalities statewide were also down, Panosh said. So far, 80 fatalities have been reported compared with 113 at the same time last year.
Panosh reported that Brown County has six fatalities this year, while Marathon County has 16.
Panosh pointed out that fatalities should stay low, as travel across the state declines after schools reopen in September.
Accidents in Shawano County are seeing an uptick, however. Lt. George Lenzner of the Sheriff’s Department said that there have been 1,590 reported accidents in 2013, 200 more than the same time frame in 2012.
Drunken driving has dropped off,. Deputies have caught 116 drivers in OWI offenses, compared with 158 at this time last year.
Lenzner reported that many of the key accident areas in the county are in several sectors of state Highway 29 where it intersects with busy county roads.
“It seems like it’s at 29 and J, or 29 and Q, or on U. All three seem to be bad,” Lenzner said.
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