5/17/19 – 4:58 A.M.
Traffic deaths have spiked in Hancock County this year. Crashes in the county have killed 14 people so far in 2019. That’s compared to 11 in all of 2018. The State Highway Patrol says no other county is so far ahead of its year-to-date fatality total. Through May of last year, only three people had died in traffic-related crashes.
Sheriff Mike Heldman says there isn’t a trend or bad intersection he can point to as the cause of the spike. Heldman says “that’s kind of the strange part of it.” He adds that drivers need to pay more attention, especially once the planting season gets underway and there is farm machinery on area roads.
Earlier this year the State Patrol said unsafe speeds and failure to yield incidents were increasing. The patrol also cited a lack of seat belt use by people killed in crashes.