South Dakota’s 2019 Traffic Deaths May Be Lowest in State’s History

Every life lost on South Dakota's roadways is a tragedy, but in 2019 there may have been fewer fatalities in the state than ever before.

The South Dakota Department of Public Safety announced this week that 102 people were killed in accidents on state roads in all of last year. That's the lowest annual number since the department began keeping records in 1947.

The previous low in the Mount Rushmore State was 111 fatalities in 2011.

Two years ago (2018), South Dakota recorded 130 fatalities.

For 2019, state crash records show that there were 20,542 accidents in the state - 37 percent occurring from midnight to 11:00 AM, the 63 percent happening between noon and midnight.

More crashes took place on Saturdays than any other day (3,569), while the fewest occurred on Mondays (2,218). More than half of all incidents (57%) happened on city streets, state highways accounted for 27 percent, and interstates made up 15 percent of fender benders.

Not surprisingly, most of the accidents (6,712) took place in Minnehaha County.