2 Most Common Causes of Traffic Deaths in Illinois and Wisconsin
Excluding colliding with other vehicles or with pedestrians, most fatal crashes in Illinois and Wisconsin involve just two things, as do the rest of the country.
In 2021, the latest available year of fatal crash data shows that nearly 43,000 people died behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.
Most Common Cause of Fatal Car Crashes
The most common cause of death on the road is a collision with other vehicles. Vehicle collisions killed over 18,000 people in 2021. But, that number only makes up 42% of the total deaths on the road.
That means that 58% of traffic deaths across the United States are because of 'something else'.
In the US, the most common 'something else' to cause a fatal crash is a pedestrian.
Stacker tracked the numbers for every state to figure out what it is that people are colliding with that causes the greatest amount of behind-the-wheel fatalities.
Excluding pedestrians, these were the objects or events they found to cause the most deaths.
Utility or Light Pole - 809 Deaths
Bicyclists - 962 Deaths
Embankments - 970 Deaths
Ditches - 1090 Deaths
Guardrails - 1117 Deaths
Curbs - 1471 Deaths
Trees - 2852 Deaths
Rollovers - 2965 Deaths
The Most Common Causes of Fatal Car Crashes in Illinois and Wisconsin
Those last two are the most common causes of fatal crashes in Illinois it is trees, and in Wisconsin, it is rollovers, after other vehicles and pedestrians.
Illinois
- #1 Cause: Trees
- Fatal Crashes: 72
- Fatalities: 80
- Percentage of all Traffic Deaths in the State: 6%
Wisconsin
- #1 Cause: Rollovers
- Fatal Crashes: 66
- Fatalities: 67
- Percentage of all Traffic Deaths in the State: 11%