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Published January 02, 2012, 09:07 AM

ND fatalities up, especially in booming oil patch

As traffic has increased in western North Dakota's booming oil patch, so have fatal vehicle crashes.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — As traffic has increased in western North Dakota's booming oil patch, so have fatal vehicle crashes.

Mark Berwick with the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute tells The Bismarck Tribune that 42 percent of the 2011 fatalities on North Dakota roads through Dec. 20 were in the northwestern part of the state.

The state's other three regions that include areas of much higher populations such as the cities of Fargo and Bismarck each had 20 percent or less of the state's fatalities.

Through last Thursday, 145 people had died on North Dakota roads, making 2011 the most dangerous year on state roads in recent history.

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