1999 Wisconsin Traffic Crash Facts

NHTSA · 2000 · ROSA P / Wisconsin. Department of Transportation

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Summary

The *1999 Wisconsin Traffic Crash Facts* report, published by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Safety, provides a comprehensive statistical analysis of motor vehicle crashes in Wisconsin for the year 1999. The document aims to identify current and emerging traffic safety issues by detailing crash severity, vehicle types, driver demographics, and contributing factors such as alcohol and speed. It frames traffic crashes as avoidable events caused by specific variables rather than accidental occurrences, serving as a resource for safety professionals to improve roadway safety. The report compiles statewide data on 130,950 total crashes, comprising 674 fatal crashes, 41,345 injury crashes, and 88,931 property damage crashes. These incidents resulted in 744 fatalities and 61,577 injuries. The data is contextualized against a backdrop of increased traffic volume, with registered vehicles rising 5.9% to 4,713,643 and licensed drivers increasing 0.6% to 3,733,077 compared to 1998. The analysis categorizes crashes by time, location, vehicle type, and driver behavior, while noting that changes in property damage reporting thresholds since 1996 likely influenced the decline in reported property damage crashes. Key findings indicate that alcohol and speed were significant contributors to fatalities, with 36% of fatal crashes involving alcohol, 27% involving speed, and 14% involving both. Among drivers killed and tested, 36% had an alcohol concentration of 0.10 or above. Safety equipment usage was low among victims; only 39% of passenger car occupants killed were wearing safety restraints, and 73% of motorcyclists killed were not wearing helmets. Pedestrian fatalities decreased to 55 from 64 in 1998, while bicyclist fatalities increased to 18 from 11. The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled rose slightly to 1.31 in 1999, compared to 1.26 in 1998. Most crashes (60%) occurred on county trunk highways and local roads. The report concludes that targeted interventions are necessary to address specific risk factors, particularly alcohol impairment, speeding, and non-use of safety restraints and helmets. By providing granular data on crash frequencies by county, time of day, and demographic groups, the document supports evidence-based policy and enforcement strategies. The Bureau of Transportation Safety emphasizes that understanding these causal variables is essential for reducing injuries and fatalities, reinforcing the view that traffic crashes are preventable through addressing identified behavioral and environmental factors.

Key finding

In 1999, Wisconsin recorded 744 traffic fatalities and 61,577 injuries, with alcohol involvement present in 36% of deaths and speed involvement in 27%.

Methodology

dataset

Provenance

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Topics

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• incidence prevalence
• demographic disparities
• fatality injury trends
• vru crash typology
• comparative international
• crash typology

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes