Updated 7/25/2021 5:09 PM
Fifty-five more people have died in traffic crashes this year in Illinois compared with 2020, a nearly 10% uptick that comes as vehicle travel grows nationwide in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fatal vehicle crashes also spiked by 35, or 6%, over the number in 2020, the Illinois Department of Transportation reported on Thursday.
The new numbers are alarming, said DePaul University transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman. Many of the gains we enjoyed in traffic safety are being surrendered.
State tallies show that 621 people died in vehicle crashes this year as of Thursday compared with 566 between Jan. 1 and July 22, 2020. There were 554 fatal crashes as of Thursday this year and 519 in the same time period in 2020.
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