A traffic accident on Tucson's east side, at the intersection of Broadway and Wilmot.Traffic crashes took 895 lives in Arizona last year, up 15.6 percent or 121 more deaths than in 2014, the state Department of Transportation's 2015 crash facts report said Wednesday.
Ninety-one people died in Pima County crashes, up from 88 deaths in 2014.
Doug Nintzel, a spokesman with the Department of Transportation, said several factors were at play.
"Speeding, not enough people buckling up, and about a third of people killed were involved in alcohol-related crashes," Nintzel said. "And that was about a 10 percent increase over the year before."
Nintzel said distracted driving also puts people at risk.
"We know that the numbers would at least partially turn around if more people would do what we’re recommending and that is, just drive," he said.
Nintzel said the takeaway is threefold: buckle up, slow down and never drive drunk.
Read the full report by clicking here.
By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.