By Kacie Svoboda
As anticipated by many, the 2016 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is well behind last year’s 75th anniversary in nearly all areas, according to data collected between last Saturday and Monday morning.
According to the South Dakota Department of Transportation, traffic totals are down 37.2 percent from the same time in 2015. Traffic going into Sturgis since last Wednesday, Aug. 3, through Sunday, Aug. 7, was 200,692 vehicles. This is down more than 100,000 compared to last year’s 319,754 vehicles counted in the first five days of the rally.
There have been only 47 DUI arrests, compared to 2015’s 60 at this time. Both misdemeanor and felony drug arrests were down, with 53 versus 58 and 14 versus 22 respectively. The number of vehicles seized for drug possession was down one from last year, with three total.
All accidents were down from 2015. There were 11 non-injury accidents this year, down from 13. Only 12 accidents resulted in injury, compared to 29 last year, and no fatalities had yet occurred, compared to six at this time in 2015.
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