St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - -The Minnesota Department of Public Safety says a fatal motorcycle crash over the weekend in Cottage Grove raised this year’s deathtoll from motorcycle crashes in the state to 47, which is above the grim tally from all of last year. That year-to-date total does not include a motorcyclist who was killed in a crash in Lakeville Monday morning.

State officials say the number of motorcycle riders killed in crashes this year is up 47-percent from a year ago. They also note that over half of the victims were not wearing helmets and almost half of the fatalities involved just the motorcycle.

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