2007 Wisconsin Traffic Crash Facts

NHTSA · 2008 · ROSA P / Wisconsin. Department of Transportation

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Summary

The "2007 Wisconsin Traffic Crash Facts" report, published by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in 2008, provides a comprehensive statistical analysis of motor vehicle traffic crashes in Wisconsin for the year 2007. The document serves as a resource for traffic safety professionals, aiming to reduce injuries and fatalities by identifying causal factors. It explicitly frames traffic crashes as avoidable events rather than accidents, emphasizing the role of specific variables such as alcohol impairment, speeding, and safety equipment usage. The report aggregates statewide data parsed by crash severity, location, vehicle type, and driver demographics. Key metrics include total crashes, fatalities, injuries, and economic losses, alongside contextual data such as the number of licensed drivers (4,075,764) and registered vehicles (5,455,985). The analysis covers various crash types, including those involving pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycles, and large trucks, as well as specific conditions like weather, lighting, and road surface. The data is further broken down by county, time of day, and day of the week to identify high-risk periods and locations. In 2007, Wisconsin recorded 737 fatalities and 50,676 injuries across 36,048 reported injury crashes and 655 fatal crashes. The fatality rate was 1.24 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Alcohol and speed were significant contributing factors: 46% of fatalities occurred in alcohol-related crashes, 34% in speed-related crashes, and 21% in crashes involving both. Among drivers tested in fatal crashes, 41% had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or above. Safety equipment usage was notably low among victims; 59% of those killed in passenger car and light truck crashes were not using safety restraints, and 75% of motorcyclists killed were not wearing helmets. Additionally, 8% of fatalities involved pedestrians and bicyclists, while 14% involved motorcyclists. The report highlights that 57% of all crashes occurred on county trunk and local roads, with city police and county sheriffs responding to 86% of these incidents. The data reveals distinct temporal patterns, with crashes occurring every 4.2 minutes on average. The findings underscore the critical impact of behavioral factors, such as impaired driving and non-compliance with safety equipment laws, on crash severity. By providing detailed breakdowns of crash circumstances and demographic trends, the report supports targeted behavioral highway safety programs and informs policy decisions aimed at mitigating the human and economic consequences of traffic crashes in Wisconsin.

Key finding

In 2007, Wisconsin recorded 737 traffic fatalities and 50,676 injuries, with alcohol involvement contributing to 46% of deaths and unrestrained occupants accounting for 59% of passenger vehicle fatalities.

Methodology

dataset

Sample size: 737

Provenance

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Topics

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