Nebraska DOT reports fatal accidents in January, higher than same month a year ago

BEATRICE – Nebraska is getting off to a bad start when it comes to traffic fatalities. The Nebraska Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Section reports there were 17 fatal accidents that took the lives of 18 people during January.  That compares with nine fatal crashes and nine fatalities, in January of 2023.

Eight of the fatality victims during the first month of this year were not wearing seatbelts.  One of those killed was operating an all-terrain vehicle, while four other victims were pedestrians.   

NDOT reports that icy roads were a contributing factor in two of the fatal accidents. 

Although the numbers of fatal accidents and fatalities were higher than January of a  year ago, the figures were lower than in January of 2022 and 2021, when 24 people were killed during the first month of each year.