SWEETWATER COUNTY — According to statistics from 2020, the latest year complete statistics were available, Sweetwater County ranked third among the 23 counties in Wyoming in terms of total number of traffic accidents, with 1,202 crashes.

As might be expected, Laramie County (Cheyenne) topped the list with 1,900 vehicle accidents, and Natrona County (Casper) came in a close second, with 1,877 vehicle accidents. Campbell County (Gillette) was fourth on the list, with 1,073 vehicle accidents. However, heavily populated Albany County (Laramie), despite its concentration of college-age drivers, came in a distant fifth with 787 vehicle accidents. At the bottom was Niobrara County, with just 83 vehicle accidents in 2020.

The statistics were provided courtesy of Wyoming Department of Transportation District 3 Senior Public Relations Specialist Stephanie Harsha and were contained in a report by WYDOT State Highway Safety Engineer Matthew D. Carlson, P.E.

Of the 1,202 vehicle crashes reported for Sweetwater County, 10 involved fatalities, with 14 deaths. Another 218 Sweetwater crashes created 326 injuries. Property Damage Only (PDO) vehicle crashes numbered 974.

Statistics for Sweetwater County accidents involving teens are sketchy at best, but statewide statistics for teen drivers are available. For 2020, in the category “Total Drivers Involved In Fatal Crashes,” for drivers ages 14-16, there were two fatal crashes, one involving a boy and the other involving a girl.

For the same category, in the 17-20 age group, there were 11 crashes, three involving girls and eight involving boys.

For “Total Drivers Involved In Injury Crashes in 2020,” in the under-14 driver age group, there were seven such crashes, with four involving girls and three involving boys.

For ages 14-16, there were 123 total injury crashes, with 67 such crashes involving girls and 58 involving boys.

For ages 17-20, injury crash totals were 176 for girls and 221 for boys.

In the PDO category, for the under-14s, there were three crashes involving girls and two involving boys. At 14-16, there were 217 girls’ traffic accidents and 254 boys’ accidents.

For 17-20, the respective numbers were 667 and 874.

Harsha added a word of caution about statistics, however: “In Wyoming, with such a small population, statistics can vary up and down from year to year. Just four or five accidents can change the percentages.”

Green River High School driver’s education teacher Nick Hokanson had an explanation for why, in general, boys tend to get in more accidents than girls.

“Boys drive about one-third more than girls,” Hokanson said. “Boys get a bad rap. Boys drive more, so they’re going to get in more accidents.”

Wyoming is actually a comparatively safe place to learn how to drive, Hokanson added, with its wide streets and smaller population. Younger drivers can gain skills here that will translate well when they get around to driving in more heavily populated locations such as Salt Lake City or Los Angeles that have much denser traffic. 

While there may not be hard statistics for Sweetwater County teenager-related accidents, the community knows all too well they are happening and some have included fatalities and life-changing injuries.

Editor’s Note: This is the second story in a three-part series looking at the challenges of teen driving in Sweetwater County. To read Part 1, click here.