       Nebraska had 11 traffic fatalities in May, down by almost half from the 19 of last May.
This year’s deaths occurred in 10 crashes with 9 of the victims in vehicles, including one in an ATV, while 2 were motorcyclists.
Of the 9 fatalities inside vehicles, 2 were wearing seatbelts, 3 were not, and investigators couldn’t determine if the other 4 were or not. Accidents in rural areas with less than 5,000 residents accounted for 8 of the deaths.
For the year, there were 77 traffic fatalities through the end of May. That’s down more than 20% from last year’s 98, but slightly more than the 75 and 72 in 2021 and 2020. There were 83 traffic deaths through May 2019.
Of the deaths so far this year, 66 were vehicle occupants and only 12 of them, less than 1 in 5, were wearing seat belts.