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 - - 98 0.0% 1 35 62
15-24 503,756 11.7% 47,515 21.0% 153 11,093 36,269
25-34 706,920 16.5% 44,306 19.5% 143 10,448 33,715
35-44 680,972 15.8% 35,045 15.5% 126 8,088 26,831
45-54 676,389 15.7% 30,074 13.3% 122 6,959 22,993
55-64 789,577 18.4% 29,236 12.9% 133 6,737 22,366
65-74 579,944 13.5% 16,565 7.3% 82 3,800 12,683
75-84 271,699 6.3% 7,287 3.2% 41 1,699 5,547
85+ 87,389 2.0% 2,072 0.9% 13 468 1,591
Unknown - - 14,564 6.4% 5 1,424 13,135
Total 4,296,646 - 226,762 - 819 50,751 175,192
Licensed drivers do not include 15-year olds as licensed drivers are made up of Valid (Valid D and Probationary) and Withdrawn (Revoked/Suspended/Canceled/Surrendered/Disqualified) license holders.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 2019

Total Crash Rate by Age Group in 2019

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 - - 25 0.0% 1 28 44
15-24 255,367 11.9% 21,760 23.9% 117 5,881 19,753
25-34 358,159 16.7% 19,349 21.3% 110 5,683 19,164
35-44 344,327 16.1% 14,920 16.4% 101 4,361 15,662
45-54 340,693 15.9% 12,258 13.5% 92 3,999 13,725
55-64 393,134 18.3% 11,644 12.8% 109 3,929 13,554
65-74 286,268 13.4% 6,774 7.4% 61 2,206 7,524
75-84 127,529 5.9% 3,207 3.5% 30 948 3,102
85+ 38,455 1.8% 938 1.0% 8 260 866
Unknown - - 69 0.1% - 40 146
Total 2,143,932 - 90,944 - 629 27,335 93,540
Licensed drivers do not include 15-year olds as licensed drivers are made up of Valid (Valid D and Probationary) and Withdrawn (Revoked/Suspended/Canceled/Surrendered/Disqualified) license holders.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 - - 73 0.1% - 7 18
15-24 248,389 11.5% 25,751 21.2% 36 5,212 16,512
25-34 348,761 16.2% 24,957 20.5% 33 4,765 14,551
35-44 336,645 15.6% 20,124 16.6% 25 3,726 11,169
45-54 335,696 15.6% 17,816 14.7% 30 2,960 9,268
55-64 396,443 18.4% 17,592 14.5% 24 2,808 8,812
65-74 293,676 13.6% 9,791 8.1% 21 1,594 5,159
75-84 144,170 6.7% 4,080 3.4% 11 751 2,445
85+ 48,934 2.3% 1,134 0.9% 5 208 725
Unknown - - 186 0.2% - 9 60
Total 2,152,714 - 121,504 - 185 22,040 68,719
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 2019

Total Crash Rate by Age Group and Gender in 2019

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 5 259 608 872
Backing 2 486 10,769 11,257
Changing Lanes 11 727 4,011 4,749
Disabled or Parked In Traffic Lane 2 33 57 92
Entering Traffic Lane 5 387 1,471 1,863
Going Straight 543 29,289 73,717 103,549
Illegally Parked 2 46 272 320
Leaving A Parked Position - 82 921 1,003
Leaving Traffic Lane 7 186 506 699
Left Turn 32 5,145 12,053 17,230
Legally Parked - 85 694 779
Merging 1 162 839 1,002
Negotiating Curve 112 2,598 7,607 10,317
Other 13 349 1,202 1,564
Overtake Left 12 264 943 1,219
Overtake Right 1 125 574 700
Park Maneuver - 101 1,869 1,970
Right Turn 7 1,515 7,727 9,249
Slow/Stopping 20 4,015 11,925 15,960
Starting In Road 1 116 231 348
Stop In Traffic 10 3,335 7,192 10,537
Turn On Red - 22 42 64
U Turn 2 255 784 1,041
Unknown 30 1,143 29,119 30,292
Viol No Passs Zn 1 26 59 86
Total 819 50,751 175,192 226,762
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 360 43,280 129,685 173,325
Asleep or Fatigued 9 393 687 1,089
Blind - 1 5 6
Confused or Disoriented (Non Lucid) 21 819 440 1,280
Emotional (Depressed, Angry, Disturbed, Etc) 9 627 677 1,313
Ill (Sick), Fainted 2 270 211 483
Not Observed 332 3,568 22,394 26,294
Other 53 326 280 659
Paraplegic or Restricted To Wheelchair 2 5 9 16
Physically Impaired 12 530 595 1,137
Under The Influence Of Medications/Drugs/Alcohol 47 1,846 3,091 4,984
Using Cane or Crutches 1 32 68 101
Total 848 51,697 158,142 210,687
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 22 4 - 2,122 119 19 16,349 1,266 1,461 21,362
February 20 3 - 2,179 154 19 17,141 1,501 1,512 22,529
March 18 3 - 1,703 101 14 12,322 836 1,335 16,332
April 29 6 - 1,838 93 19 11,201 875 1,092 15,153
May 31 2 - 2,160 139 20 12,691 1,068 1,141 17,252
June 26 2 1 2,244 146 28 13,012 1,228 1,185 17,872
July 24 10 - 2,349 208 36 12,505 1,319 1,251 17,702
August 47 8 - 2,251 174 30 12,058 1,304 1,257 17,129
September 43 4 - 2,184 144 28 12,678 1,070 1,261 17,412
October 42 1 - 2,342 152 22 15,804 1,215 1,343 20,921
November 29 3 1 2,201 146 16 17,491 1,280 1,441 22,608
December 24 - - 2,136 114 23 15,549 1,216 1,428 20,490
Total 355 46 2 25,709 1,690 274 168,801 14,178 15,707 226,762
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 4 127 391 522
Disregarded Other Traffic Control 8 337 540 885
Disregarded Red Light 18 1,351 1,712 3,081
Disregarded Stop Sign 30 956 1,154 2,140
Exceed Speed Limit 108 1,416 1,578 3,102
Failed To Keep In Designated Lane 94 1,891 5,590 7,575
Failed To Yield Right-Of-Way 71 6,513 13,250 19,834
Failure To Control 152 6,033 15,571 21,756
Following Too Close 32 3,444 9,339 12,815
Improper Overtaking / Passing Left 9 222 761 992
Improper Overtaking / Passing Right 5 154 661 820
Improper Turn 5 519 2,577 3,101
Looked But Did Not See 11 1,337 5,387 6,735
Operated Motor Vehicle In Aggressive/Reckless Manner 48 939 1,603 2,590
Operated Motor Vehicle In Inattentive, Careless, Negligent, or Erratic Manner 54 3,503 8,122 11,679
Other Contributing Action 34 1,934 5,838 7,806
Over-Correcting/Over-Steering 22 494 914 1,430
Racing 4 44 45 93
Ran Off Roadway 77 1,671 3,528 5,276
Speed Too Fast/Cond 79 3,348 10,740 14,167
Swerved or Avoided Due To Wind, Slippery Surface, Motor Vehicle, Object, Non-Motorist In Rdwy, Etc. 9 322 916 1,247
Unknown 132 3,138 18,275 21,545
Unsafe Backing 1 307 6,733 7,041
Wrong Side or Wrong Way 25 377 558 960
Total 1,032 40,377 115,783 157,192
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 472 511 92%
Injury 25,719 28,791 89%
Property Damage 85,147 115,986 73%
Total 111,338 145,288 77%

Top Five Citations Issued to Drivers by Crash Severity

Drivers in a Fatal Crash
Citation # of Citations
Operate Motor Vehicle W/O Insurance 18
Failure To Keep Vehicle Under Control 11
Inattentive Driving 9
Hit And Run-Involve Death 7
Homicide By Intox. Use/Vehicle 7
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 3,674
Failure To Keep Vehicle Under Control 2,577
Inattentive Driving 2,544
Automobile Following Too Closely 2,112
Fail/Yield Right/Way From Stop Sign 1,323
Drivers in a Property Damage Crash
Citation # of Citations
Operate Motor Vehicle W/O Insurance 7,465
Failure To Keep Vehicle Under Control 5,496
Inattentive Driving 5,395
Automobile Following Too Closely 5,346
Driving Too Fast For Conditions 2,849