By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
Through the end of August, there have been two fatal crashes on Rice County roads in 2024. That number is dramatically down from 2023, when the county had a total of 12 road fatalities, but officials say the number is still too high.
Rice County’s county’s goal is for nobody to die in a car crash every year, and “create a culture for which traffic fatalities and serious injuries are no longer acceptable.” The county has joined with Minnesota’s Toward Zero Deaths program to help reach that goal.
After five full months, January-May, with zero road fatalities, the county’s first fatal crash happened on June 1st. The second occurred on August 27th, when a 14-year-old boy was killed when the vehicle in which he was riding crossed the center line and traveled into the path of another car. In both crashes, the people killed were passengers. Both drivers were seriously injured as well.
In a report last week to Rice County’s Safe Roads Coalition, Capt. Paul LaRoche of the Rice County Sheriff’s Office said that as of mid-August, law enforcement had responded to 450 crashes in Rice County involving 798 vehicles. Of those 450 crashes, 125 people were injured, and 17 of those injuries are believed to be serious.
In 2023, preliminary crash data showed 771 total crashes in Rice County. Ten of those claimed the lives of 12 people, the highest number of fatalities on county roads since 2008. There were 21 serious injury crashes, with 28 serious injuries in 2023 as well. Many of the fatalities in 2023 occurred in the construction zone on Interstate 35 in Faribault and were attributed to inattentiveness by the drivers. In response, Rice County has gathered road engineers, first responders, and other experts to review road construction plans and look for ways to enhance safety in the future. The Minnesota Department of Transportations has also responded to the issue by posting additional signage and rumble strips along the road.
In 2022, there were 4 fatal crashes and 22 serious injury crashes.
The closest Rice County has come to zero deaths in the past 20 years is two fatalities in 2011, 2018 and 2019. The most fatal crashes in the past 20 years was 2000 with 20.
