Four killed on state roads over holiday

Four people were killed on Minnesota highways over the Memorial Day weekend, a time typically notorious for motorist deaths.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety reported that two of the people killed were on a motorcycle that crashed in Jackson County Saturday evening. The operator was a 38-year-old male and his passenger a 34-year-old female.

In addition, a 32-year-old female was killed Saturday morning in Rock County. She was not wearing a seat belt, and alcohol was involved. Lastly, an 80-year-old female was killed in Pope County Monday morning.

In 2011, there were no motorist deaths over the holiday weekend, making it the safest Memorial Day on record. However, there were nine deaths in 2010 and 13 in 2009.

Minnesota has seen a total of 103 traffic deaths this year. Last year at this time, there had been 108. The DPS reports that there were fewer than 400 traffic deaths in 2011, the first time that has happened since 1944.

The DPS predicts a total of about 365 deaths for 2012.

Tags: news, traffic, accidents