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 - - 140 0.1% 1 42 97
15-24 505,552 11.7% 37,357 21.7% 147 9,203 28,007
25-34 704,351 16.3% 33,921 19.7% 200 8,580 25,141
35-44 691,951 16.0% 25,707 14.9% 109 6,162 19,436
45-54 663,450 15.4% 21,822 12.7% 129 5,147 16,546
55-64 784,319 18.2% 21,282 12.3% 112 4,932 16,238
65-74 601,450 13.9% 11,882 6.9% 71 2,817 8,994
75-84 275,402 6.4% 5,196 3.0% 37 1,291 3,868
85+ 89,417 2.1% 1,427 0.8% 10 359 1,058
Unknown - - 13,592 7.9% 5 1,433 12,154
Total 4,315,892 - 172,326 - 821 39,966 131,539
Licensed drivers do not include 15-year olds as licensed drivers are made up of Valid (Valid D and Probationary) and Withdrawn (Revoked/Suspended/Canceled/Surrendered/Disqualified) license holders.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 2020

Total Crash Rate by Age Group in 2020

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 - - 95 0.1% 1 27 67
15-24 256,260 11.9% 20,850 22.1% 113 5,105 15,632
25-34 357,254 16.6% 19,946 21.2% 150 4,891 14,905
35-44 349,599 16.2% 15,373 16.3% 84 3,598 11,691
45-54 334,477 15.5% 13,433 14.3% 99 3,029 10,305
55-64 390,394 18.1% 13,273 14.1% 86 3,024 10,163
65-74 296,885 13.8% 7,245 7.7% 58 1,742 5,445
75-84 129,919 6.0% 2,960 3.1% 25 730 2,205
85+ 39,225 1.8% 823 0.9% 4 207 612
Unknown - - 213 0.2% - 44 169
Total 2,154,013 - 94,211 - 620 22,397 71,194
Licensed drivers do not include 15-year olds as licensed drivers are made up of Valid (Valid D and Probationary) and Withdrawn (Revoked/Suspended/Canceled/Surrendered/Disqualified) license holders.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 - - 44 0.1% - 15 29
15-24 249,292 11.5% 16,504 25.5% 34 4,098 12,372
25-34 347,097 16.1% 13,973 21.6% 50 3,689 10,234
35-44 342,352 15.8% 10,333 16.0% 25 2,564 7,744
45-54 328,973 15.2% 8,388 12.9% 30 2,118 6,240
55-64 393,925 18.2% 8,009 12.4% 26 1,908 6,075
65-74 304,565 14.1% 4,636 7.2% 13 1,075 3,548
75-84 145,483 6.7% 2,236 3.5% 12 561 1,663
85+ 50,192 2.3% 604 0.9% 6 152 446
Unknown - - 52 0.1% - 11 41
Total 2,161,879 - 64,779 - 196 16,191 48,392
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 2020

Total Crash Rate by Age Group and Gender in 2020

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 8 234 453 695
Backing 4 351 7,698 8,053
Changing Lanes 8 587 2,706 3,301
Disabled or Parked In Traffic Lane 1 18 47 66
Entering Traffic Lane 1 315 1,027 1,343
Going Straight 476 23,447 54,677 78,600
Illegally Parked 2 41 204 247
Leaving A Parked Position - 82 728 810
Leaving Traffic Lane 10 160 415 585
Left Turn 56 4,034 9,239 13,329
Legally Parked 3 38 275 316
Merging - 101 534 635
Negotiating Curve 128 2,528 5,829 8,485
Other 17 346 1,058 1,421
Overtake Left 12 248 801 1,061
Overtake Right 6 120 449 575
Park Maneuver - 74 1,291 1,365
Right Turn 5 1,139 5,618 6,762
Slow/Stopping 13 2,383 6,530 8,926
Starting In Road 1 101 219 321
Stop In Traffic 20 2,162 4,648 6,830
Turn On Red - 18 29 47
U Turn 1 225 631 857
Unknown 47 1,191 26,390 27,628
Viol No Passs Zn 2 23 43 68
Total 821 39,966 131,539 172,326
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 322 32,623 90,217 123,162
Asleep or Fatigued 2 377 597 976
Blind - 4 6 10
Confused or Disoriented (Non Lucid) 19 890 486 1,395
Emotional (Depressed, Angry, Disturbed, Etc) 11 570 649 1,230
Ill (Sick), Fainted 3 247 205 455
Not Observed 324 3,246 20,277 23,847
Other 82 322 234 638
Paraplegic or Restricted To Wheelchair - 3 5 8
Physically Impaired 11 626 626 1,263
Under The Influence Of Medications/Drugs/Alcohol 70 2,045 3,111 5,226
Using Cane or Crutches - 30 55 85
Total 844 40,983 116,468 158,295
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 16 1 - 1,783 119 18 14,070 1,042 1,339 18,388
February 19 1 1 1,744 121 14 12,985 948 1,296 17,129
March 19 1 1 1,251 66 14 7,965 560 944 10,821
April 28 2 - 1,027 66 16 5,450 402 734 7,725
May 31 - - 1,596 99 20 8,174 651 1,048 11,619
June 43 4 - 2,100 142 34 10,567 923 1,253 15,066
July 46 3 1 2,138 161 28 10,104 1,033 1,330 14,844
August 38 5 - 2,080 178 35 10,050 926 1,432 14,744
September 54 8 - 2,002 163 37 10,205 904 1,345 14,718
October 29 3 1 1,939 128 30 11,970 964 1,345 16,409
November 28 1 2 1,698 115 22 11,251 781 1,243 15,141
December 26 4 1 1,833 110 18 11,423 939 1,368 15,722
Total 377 33 7 21,191 1,468 286 124,214 10,073 14,677 172,326
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 8 141 370 519
Disregarded Other Traffic Control 5 224 506 735
Disregarded Red Light 19 1,307 1,502 2,828
Disregarded Stop Sign 28 837 1,099 1,964
Exceed Speed Limit 140 1,554 1,787 3,481
Failed To Keep In Designated Lane 120 1,891 4,934 6,945
Failed To Yield Right-Of-Way 78 4,808 9,335 14,221
Failure To Control 193 5,499 12,419 18,111
Following Too Close 10 2,114 5,778 7,902
Improper Overtaking / Passing Left 9 224 624 857
Improper Overtaking / Passing Right 10 168 502 680
Improper Turn 5 432 2,094 2,531
Looked But Did Not See 17 1,322 5,000 6,339
Operated Motor Vehicle In Aggressive/Reckless Manner 84 1,071 1,856 3,011
Operated Motor Vehicle In Inattentive, Careless, Negligent, or Erratic Manner 79 3,018 6,572 9,669
Other Contributing Action 43 1,798 4,711 6,552
Over-Correcting/Over-Steering 36 519 795 1,350
Racing 3 32 41 76
Ran Off Roadway 85 1,785 3,499 5,369
Speed Too Fast/Cond 69 2,258 6,216 8,543
Swerved or Avoided Due To Wind, Slippery Surface, Motor Vehicle, Object, Non-Motorist In Rdwy, Etc. 11 314 771 1,096
Unknown 132 2,965 16,035 19,132
Unsafe Backing 1 202 4,615 4,818
Wrong Side or Wrong Way 35 365 590 990
Total 1,220 34,848 91,651 127,719
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 503 540 93%
Injury 21,082 23,747 89%
Property Damage 64,821 90,410 72%
Total 86,406 114,697 75%

Top Five Citations Issued to Drivers by Crash Severity

Drivers in a Fatal Crash
Citation # of Citations
Homicide By Intox. Use/Vehicle 20
Failure To Keep Vehicle Under Control 14
Operate Motor Vehicle W/O Insurance 11
Operating While Under The Influence 11
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 2,988
Failure To Keep Vehicle Under Control 2,396
Inattentive Driving 1,970
Operating While Suspended 1,276
Automobile Following Too Closely 1,252
Drivers in a Property Damage Crash
Citation # of Citations
Operate Motor Vehicle W/O Insurance 6,000
Failure To Keep Vehicle Under Control 4,492
Inattentive Driving 3,759
Automobile Following Too Closely 2,918
Operating While Suspended 2,410