MADISON, Wis. – As Wisconsin hits grim milestones in the pandemic, we’re hitting grim milestones on the road too.

2020 has been a deadlier year on Wisconsin’s streets and highways than 2019.

“Carnage on the highways, and carnage on our county roads, and carnage and deaths on our city streets,” said Wisconsin State Patrol Superintendent Tony Burrell.

So far this year, 518 Wisconsinites have died in crashes. At this point in 2019, that number was 485.

It’s a surprising spike, considering that people are driving less during the pandemic.

“There's probably a mindset or mentality that if there's fewer vehicles on the road, I can travel faster, because I'm going to have less vehicles in the way,” Burrell said.

State troopers know what the problems are: distracted driving, driving under the influence, and speeding. They’re all driver behavior.

“You’ve got the increase of alcohol usage, and then also the increase in drug usage,” said Burrell. “So those combinations when you add those things together … that is a recipe for a disaster.”

Burrell said many of the people who died in those crashes weren’t wearing seat belts. Data from 2017 showed 47 percent of people killed in crashes nationwide weren’t buckled up.

“Seat belts do save lives, they prevent injuries, they reduce injuries,” he said.

The state patrol wants people to know that everybody has control over what they do behind the wheel. All Wisconsinites need to do is drive sober, stay the speed limit, put down the phone, and buckle up.

“This will go a long, long way to bring down that number as opposed to watching that number go up,” said Burrell.