If your city ranked in the top two throughout the state in something, it might sound like a good thing.

Unfortunately for Bismarck and Minot, a new ranking is not something to be proud of.

Transportation Department figures show Bismarck was the leader among North Dakota's largest cities last year in the number of vehicle crashes per 1,000 people, with 34.

Minot was next with 26.7 crashes per 1,000 people.

Kristen Partlow is Safe Communities Coordinator for North Central North Dakota.

She says those high numbers are the result of several factors, including a higher level of oil traffic, harsher winter weather, cell phone use, and impaired driving.

She believes many crashes could be avoided by taking a few simple precautions.

(Kristen Partlow, Safe Communities Coord.) "Speeding is a big factor in the number of crashes and the severity of those crashes. Then always, buckling up. That's your biggest protection against other drivers as well as your own driver error."


Partlow says young drivers are involved in dozens of crashes each year, and a good website for parents and teens to visit is ndteendrivers.com. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list