      Data from the Nebraska Department of Transportation shows there were 146 fatalities on the state’s roads in the first 7 months of this year.
That’s 20 more than last year and 13 more than in any of the last 5 years.
Nebraska had 126 traffic deaths from January through July both last year and in 2018 with 133 fatalities in 2020 and 131 in 2019.
There were 20 traffic deaths last month from 19 crashes on Nebraska highways. The total includes 4 motorcyclists and 3 pedestrians.
Of the 13 fatalities for occupants of vehicles, only 2 were confirmed as wearing seat belts. 8 were not and investigators wouldn’t determine whether the other 3 were or not.
Rural roads were the deadliest with 14 fatalities. Highways other than interstates accounted for 9 deaths with 7 on local roads and 4 on freeways.