Sheriff: Drivers have to pay better attention

• Pierce County

Pierce County

Talk about it

2012 saw a trend increase in Pierce County, which wasn’t for the good.

The year saw 12 traffic fatalities, the most since 2003 (13) and, for only the third time since 2000, the figure reached the teens.

While there could be dozens of factors that would lead to a crash, Sheriff Nancy Hove said one factor seems to be a constant throughout.

“How do you fix driver error?” she said. “People are not paying attention, not stopping for stop signs, being on their phones. You wouldn’t believe the number of times we heard the driver say, ‘We were reaching for something.’

“They need to get back to driving.”

Not stopping for stop sign is the believed cause of two accidents which led to deaths in 2012. Derek Donley, 18, Prescott, failed to stop at a sign at the intersection of Hwy. 63 and CTH K, and ended up colliding with a truck April 6. He died later that month.

In December, Matthew Amos, 22, Cottage Grove, Minn., was northbound on CTH E when he failed to stop at the intersection with Hwy. 10. His car then struck the back axle of an eastbound semi-truck trailer. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

For more please read the Jan. 23 print version of the Herald.

Tags: news, crime, courts, wisconsin