Wisconsin highway death toll hits six-year high with two months in 2021 to go

The number of people killed on Wisconsin highways during the first 10 months of the year is at its highest level in at least six years.

As of last week, the state had 510 traffic deaths for 2021 — a mark normally reached in November.

WI traffic deaths	2021*	2020*	2019	2018	2017	2016	Avg.
Fatal Crashes	469	464	437	447	460	434	448
Fatalities	510	509	469	498	505	485	493

On average since 2016, 87 people are killed in Wisconsin crashes over the last two months of the year, so it’s possible that the 600 mark could be reached for the first time in several years.

The death toll for all of 2020 was 509.

Traffic deaths in Wisconsin have remained below 600 a year for most of the last decade. The toll has been as high as 1,000 per year, dating back to the 1960s, before seat belts were required in U.S. cars.

In La Crosse County, there have been seven fatalities, which is tied for 26th highest in the state. Milwaukee County has the most by far at 70 with Dane County coming in second at 42.

Last year, La Crosse had four deaths. Thirty-one counties had four or fewer deaths. Milwaukee County hit 101 last year, while the second-highest was 33 (Dane).

​​​The figures below represent final year-end total figures for the years 2016-2019. The 2021 and ​2020​ preliminary figures represent fatalities that had been reported to the WisDOT Crash Record​s Unit as of the date shown below.​​

County	2021*	2020*	2019	2018	2017	2016	Average
Milwaukee	70	101	74	68	86	73	80
Dane	42	33	25	41	32	38	34
Rock	26	25	23	31	13	23	23
Waukesha	18	16	18	25	25	27	22
Marathon	14	8	14	9	15	9	11
Dodge	13	8	13	8	20	12	12
Kenosha	12	21	15	16	18	18	18
Columbia	12	14	9	11	6	20	12
Sauk	12	9	9	12	11	11	10
Outagamie	11	9	16	12	20	14	14
Jefferson	10	9	6	13	13	7	10
Washington	10	4	12	10	7	10	9
Walworth	9	12	15	7	21	23	16
Winnebago	9	10	11	13	9	10	11
Oconto	9	9	8	7	8	7	8
Saint Croix	9	9	13	8	7	7	9
Monroe	9	5	6	6	6	9	6
Portage	9	4	3	8	5	2	4
Manitowoc	8	10	15	8	6	3	8
Fond du Lac	8	9	8	16	11	10	11
Clark	8	7	4	6	9	10	7
Waushara	8	7	2	5	7	3	5
Shawano	8	5	5	4	16	8	8
Barron	8	4	9	7	5	4	6
Waupaca	7	7	11	6	8	5	7
Grant	7	4	10	5	8	11	8
La Crosse	7	4	5	9	12	6	7
Sheboygan	7	4	11	9	11	10	9
Marinette	7	3	7	10	2	5	5
Racine	6	23	17	20	11	17	18
Green	6	3	4	3	6	6	4
Wood	5	16	10	5	11	6	10
Eau Claire	5	10	2	5	4	10	6
Lincoln	5	7	4	2	5	2	4
Dunn	5	6	5	9	8	11	8
Ozaukee	5	6	11	5	5	7	7
Douglas	5	4	4	3	2	2	3
Brown	4	17	9	18	25	18	17
Polk	4	14	11	10	7	10	10
Chippewa	4	9	6	14	12	1	8
Pierce	4	8	5	2	7	10	6
Juneau	4	6	7	11	6	9	8
Marquette	4	4	1	2	6	2	3
Burnett	4	3	9	6	5	4	5
Rusk	4	3	4	2	2	0	2
Lafayette	4	1	0	3	5	2	2
Taylor	4	1	3	5	1	6	3
Vernon	4	1	1	4	3	4	3
Trempealeau	3	6	1	2	3	0	2
Iowa	3	5	7	3	3	2	4
Buffalo	3	4	2	5	0	3	3
Langlade	3	3	2	2	2	2	2
Washburn	3	2	4	0	3	1	2
Oneida	2	6	7	6	3	5	5
Calumet	2	5	1	3	5	2	3
Crawford	2	3	2	3	1	3	2
Green Lake	2	3	3	0	0	1	1
Door	2	2	6	7	1	4	4
Richland	2	2	0	1	1	4	2
Sawyer	1	11	2	1	1	3	4
Adams	1	5	3	2	1	3	3
Kewaunee	1	5	1	0	3	2	2
Bayfield	1	4	1	2	3	3	3
Florence	1	4	0	3	1	0	2
Pepin	1	3	0	2	0	1	1
Price	1	3	3	2	1	3	2
Ashland	1	1	1	1	3	5	2
Jackson	1	1	4	6	6	3	4
Menominee	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
Iron		1	4	2	1	3	2
Vilas		1	4	2	2	11	4
Forest			1	2	2	2	2
Total	510	593	550	576	594	588	580