(Photo: Wisconsin DOT)
Wisconsin traffic deaths in 2016 were the highest in four years.
Preliminary Wisconsin Department of Transportation numbers show 588 people were killed in crashes last year — six-percent more than 2015, and the most since 2012 when 601 people died.
State Transportation Safety director David Pabst says more people were on the road last year due to an improved economy and lower gas prices.
Ninety-percent of crashes are caused by driver errors and bad habits like distracted driving by cell phone use. The Wisconsin DOT has increased drug impaired driving enforcement and received a federal grant to try and prevent semi truck crashes.