3  Drivers

Note

This section looks at all drivers in a crash and excludes bicyclists and pedestrians. These numbers do not represent the number of crashes.

3.1 Driver Demographics

Drivers by Age Group
Age Group Licensed Drivers Percent of Licensed Drivers Drivers in a Crash Percent of Drivers in a Crash Drivers in Fatal Crashes Drivers in Injury Crashes Drivers in Property Damage Crashes
0-4 - - - - - - -
5-14 - - 81 0.0% 1 27 53
15-24 522,919 12.2% 48,014 22.1% 164 12,489 35,361
25-34 716,795 16.7% 42,204 19.5% 169 10,949 31,086
35-44 662,998 15.5% 31,871 14.7% 115 8,174 23,582
45-54 717,353 16.7% 30,277 14.0% 130 7,572 22,575
55-64 786,504 18.3% 27,119 12.5% 117 6,746 20,256
65-74 536,836 12.5% 15,061 6.9% 64 3,719 11,278
75-84 256,650 6.0% 6,854 3.2% 48 1,711 5,095
85+ 86,208 2.0% 2,134 1.0% 20 529 1,585
Unknown - - 13,171 6.1% 13 1,538 11,620
Total 4,286,263 - 216,786 - 841 53,454 162,491
Licensed drivers do not include 15-year olds as licensed drivers are made up of Valid (Valid D and Probationary) and Withdrawn (Revoked/Suspended/Canceled/Surrendered/Disqualified) license holders.
Note

Crash rate is drivers in a crash per 1,000 licensed drivers.

Fatal Crash Rate by Age Group in 2017

Total Crash Rate by Age Group in 2017

Male Drivers in a Crash by Age Group
Age Group Male
Licensed Drivers Percent of Licensed Drivers Drivers in a Crash Percent of Drivers in a Crash Drivers in Fatal Crashes Drivers in Injury Crashes Drivers in Property Damage Crashes
0-4 - - - - - - -
5-14 - - 53 0.0% - 21 32
15-24 265,418 12.4% 26,286 22.7% 128 6,738 19,420
25-34 363,794 17.0% 23,648 20.4% 129 5,972 17,547
35-44 336,220 15.7% 18,217 15.7% 87 4,458 13,672
45-54 360,665 16.9% 17,639 15.2% 101 4,293 13,245
55-64 392,074 18.3% 16,249 14.0% 92 4,024 12,133
65-74 264,449 12.4% 8,837 7.6% 41 2,159 6,637
75-84 119,100 5.6% 3,776 3.3% 35 980 2,761
85+ 36,845 1.7% 1,145 1.0% 13 299 833
Unknown - - 194 0.2% - 47 147
Total 2,138,565 - 116,044 - 626 28,991 86,427
Licensed drivers do not include 15-year olds as licensed drivers are made up of Valid (Valid D and Probationary) and Withdrawn (Revoked/Suspended/Canceled/Surrendered/Disqualified) license holders.
Female Drivers in a Crash by Age Group
Age Group Female
Licensed Drivers Percent of Licensed Drivers Drivers in a Crash Percent of Drivers in a Crash Drivers in Fatal Crashes Drivers in Injury Crashes Drivers in Property Damage Crashes
0-4 - - - - - - -
5-14 - - 28 0.0% 1 6 21
15-24 257,501 12.0% 21,718 24.7% 36 5,751 15,931
25-34 353,001 16.4% 18,553 21.1% 40 4,977 13,536
35-44 326,778 15.2% 13,652 15.5% 28 3,716 9,908
45-54 356,688 16.6% 12,638 14.4% 29 3,279 9,330
55-64 394,430 18.4% 10,870 12.4% 25 2,722 8,123
65-74 272,387 12.7% 6,223 7.1% 23 1,560 4,640
75-84 137,550 6.4% 3,078 3.5% 13 731 2,334
85+ 49,363 2.3% 984 1.1% 7 230 747
Unknown - - 68 0.1% - 25 43
Total 2,147,698 - 87,812 - 202 22,997 64,613
Licensed drivers do not include 15-year olds as licensed drivers are made up of Valid (Valid D and Probationary) and Withdrawn (Revoked/Suspended/Canceled/Surrendered/Disqualified) license holders.

Fatal Crash Rate by Age Group and Gender in 2017

Total Crash Rate by Age Group and Gender in 2017

3.2 Driver Behavior

What a Driver was Doing at Time of Crash
What driver was doing Fatal Injury Property Damage Total
Accelerating In Road 5 154 294 453
Backing 1 305 5,948 6,254
Changing Lanes 1 439 2,079 2,519
Disabled or Parked In Traffic Lane 3 17 28 48
Entering Traffic Lane 5 216 723 944
Going Straight 373 18,333 39,207 57,913
Illegally Parked - 18 111 129
Leaving A Parked Position - 61 549 610
Leaving Traffic Lane 5 119 276 400
Left Turn 38 3,356 6,732 10,126
Legally Parked 2 41 326 369
Merging 2 78 413 493
Negotiating Curve 88 1,823 4,041 5,952
Other 9 216 648 873
Overtake Left 6 176 510 692
Overtake Right 4 76 312 392
Park Maneuver - 66 1,036 1,102
Right Turn 4 1,023 4,074 5,101
Slow/Stopping 10 2,693 6,779 9,482
Starting In Road 2 64 106 172
Stop In Traffic 7 2,308 4,190 6,505
Turn On Red - 11 31 42
U Turn 1 153 406 560
Unknown 272 21,687 83,629 105,588
Viol No Passs Zn 3 21 43 67
Total 841 53,454 162,491 216,786
This does not include what pedestrians or bicyclists were doing.
Driver Condition Related to the Crash
Driver's Condition Fatal Injury Property Damage Total
Appeared Normal 356 45,094 116,780 162,230
Asleep or Fatigued 4 398 592 994
Blind - 1 7 8
Confused or Disoriented (Non Lucid) 20 842 503 1,365
Emotional (Depressed, Angry, Disturbed, Etc) 20 548 594 1,162
Ill (Sick), Fainted 1 250 184 435
Not Observed 285 3,334 18,235 21,854
Other 60 286 224 570
Paraplegic or Restricted To Wheelchair - 7 8 15
Physically Impaired 12 584 502 1,098
Under The Influence Of Medications/Drugs/Alcohol 72 2,100 2,891 5,063
Using Cane or Crutches 1 47 74 122
Total 831 53,491 140,594 194,916
A person may have one or more conditions.
In-State and Out-of-State Drivers
Month Killed Injured No Injury Total
Wisconsin Out-of-State Unknown/No License Wisconsin Out-of-State Unknown/No License Wisconsin Out-of-State Unknown/No License
January 23 1 - 2,029 119 20 13,832 1,014 1,172 18,210
February 26 - - 1,834 98 19 11,384 722 954 15,037
March 21 3 - 2,065 137 23 12,474 886 1,097 16,706
April 32 1 - 2,038 121 20 10,835 784 1,047 14,878
May 32 3 - 2,469 147 21 13,383 1,053 1,208 18,316
June 45 2 - 2,582 182 28 13,716 1,395 1,231 19,181
July 44 5 - 2,523 211 39 12,303 1,395 1,290 17,810
August 38 4 - 2,309 173 20 11,935 1,167 1,162 16,808
September 35 1 1 2,414 181 23 12,575 1,071 1,183 17,484
October 37 3 - 2,293 151 26 15,048 1,249 1,290 20,097
November 31 1 - 2,173 129 19 15,447 1,131 1,194 20,125
December 25 4 1 2,423 145 19 16,827 1,264 1,426 22,134
Total 389 28 2 27,152 1,794 277 159,759 13,131 14,254 216,786
Note

These two charts count Driver Possible Contributing Circumstances (PCCs) marked on the crash report form as well as if speed, drug/alcohol impairment, and distraction was also a factor. It does not address contributing factors on the part of bicyclists or pedestrians. It counts multiple PCCs per crash and removes ‘Unknown’ causes. The tables are at the crash level and there can be multiple factors in a crash.

Driver PCCs in All Crashes

PCCs in Fatal Crashes

Driver-Related Possible Contributing Circumstance (PCC)
PCC Fatal Injury Property Damage Total
Disregarded Other Road Markings 7 139 337 483
Disregarded Other Traffic Control 6 322 584 912
Disregarded Red Light 18 1,401 1,630 3,049
Disregarded Stop Sign 36 975 1,218 2,229
Exceed Speed Limit 120 1,539 1,827 3,486
Failed To Keep In Designated Lane 110 1,921 5,046 7,077
Failed To Yield Right-Of-Way 89 6,906 12,671 19,666
Failure To Control 179 6,445 14,468 21,092
Following Too Close 11 3,809 9,612 13,432
Improper Overtaking / Passing Left 16 269 725 1,010
Improper Overtaking / Passing Right 7 168 650 825
Improper Turn 7 573 2,659 3,239
Operated Motor Vehicle In Aggressive/Reckless Manner 61 853 1,356 2,270
Operated Motor Vehicle In Inattentive, Careless, Negligent, or Erratic Manner 55 3,770 8,390 12,215
Other Contributing Action 41 2,295 6,052 8,388
Over-Correcting/Over-Steering 37 638 982 1,657
Racing 4 46 47 97
Ran Off Roadway 83 1,763 3,292 5,138
Speed Too Fast/Cond 60 2,881 8,107 11,048
Swerved or Avoided Due To Wind, Slippery Surface, Motor Vehicle, Object, Non-Motorist In Rdwy, Etc. 9 352 800 1,161
Unknown 100 2,539 13,484 16,123
Unsafe Backing - 350 7,059 7,409
Wrong Side or Wrong Way 52 426 575 1,053
Total 1,108 40,380 101,571 143,059
The numbers in this table represent the number of times a driver was cited as a possible contributing circumstance (PCC) in a crash. The numbers do not represent numbers of crashes or drivers.
Crashes with a Least One PCC
Crash Severity Crash w/ PCC Total crashes Share
Fatal 492 539 91%
Injury 26,866 30,614 88%
Property Damage 76,611 108,717 70%
Total 103,969 139,870 74%

Top Five Citations Issued to Drivers by Crash Severity

Drivers in a Fatal Crash
Citation # of Citations
Operate Motor Vehicle W/O Insurance 17
Hit And Run-Involve Death 15
Homicide By Intox. Use/Vehicle 14
Operating Left Of Center Line 12
Knowingly Operating While Suspended-Cause Death 10
For fatal crashes, if the driver was killed, then the driver would not have been issued any citations. Citations issued would be to the surviving driver.
Drivers in an Injury Crash
Citation # of Citations
Operate Motor Vehicle W/O Insurance 3,693
Inattentive Driving 3,240
Failure To Keep Vehicle Under Control 2,571
Automobile Following Too Closely 2,133
Operating After Suspension 1,746
Drivers in a Property Damage Crash
Citation # of Citations
Operate Motor Vehicle W/O Insurance 6,812
Inattentive Driving 6,263
Automobile Following Too Closely 5,336
Failure To Keep Vehicle Under Control 5,038
Operating After Suspension 2,966