LaSalle and Bureau Counties in Top 10 Statewide for Traffic Deaths Through March

When you think of places in Illinois with the most traffic deaths, you probably think more about Chicago than the Illinois Valley. But so far this year LaSalle and Bureau Counties are near the top of the list.

While there were 14 crash-related deaths in LaSalle for all of 2015, there have already been 8 this year. Bureau County has had 5 deaths from crashes through the end of March. Two years ago, there were only 4 traffic deaths in the county for the year.

The state as a whole has seen 236 traffic deaths. That’s 35% more, or 62 more deaths, than the first three months of last year.