KYTC District 8 reported 45 road fatalities in 2022

Jan. 19—Kentucky saw fewer overall road fatalities in 2022 than the year before, but Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) District 8, which includes Pulaski, saw almost the same number of fatal accidents as in 2021.

KYTC District 8 encompasses Pulaski, Adair, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland Lincoln, McCreary, Rockcastle, Russell and Wayne counties. According to its website, it includes 2,700 miles of state highways.

For 2022, District 8 saw 45 people killed in wrecks, including six that were on motorcycles.

In 2021, the district saw 49 fatalities, with four of those being on motorcycles.

The good news is that the state as a whole saw fewer fatalities in 2022 than 2021. for 2022, The state reported 734 people killed, compared to 806 the year before.

For 2022, there were 77 commercial vehicles involved in fatal crashes, while in 2021 there were 102. However, there were more fatal accidents involving motorcycles than in the previous year, with 95 deaths reported in 2022 compared to 88 deaths the year before.

KYTC reported that out among the 95 motorcycle deaths reported last year, 62 were not wearing helmets while 32 were, while one did not report that information.

Similarly, among those who were killed while riding bicycles, 10 were reported as not wearing helmets while two were wearing them. For ATV accidents, 13 were killed who were not wearing helmets, while one person was killed while wearing one.

The report also noted that 55.3 percent of fatalities within personal vehicles — or 288 — were not using seat belts at the time, while 41.8% were reported to be using belts. The report does not cover whether belts were being worn properly or improperly in those cases.

KYTC also reported that the majority of those killed in accidents were between the ages of 25 and 64, with 16.5% of the deaths being between the ages of 35 and 44. Children under the age of 18 made up 6.5% of the fatalities.

Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com