Manitoba Public Insurance is reporting that 42 per cent of those killed on Manitoba roadways in 2018 were the result of impaired driving.

Spokesman Brian Smiley says this is unacceptable behaviour.

"We know that drinking and driving or taking drugs while driving is very high risk driving behaviour and that's something the driver can change in an instant," says Smiley. "Again, 71 people were killed, many of those 71 were innocent people that were just driving on our roadways."

He says there were 66 fatal crashes in 2018 compared to the ten-year average of 79, and the number of deaths is down from the ten-year average of 88. He says this is still too many, when you take into consideration how many involved preventable factors.

28 per cent of fatalities were the result of not wearing a seatbelt. Speed played a role in 17 per cent of total deaths on public roadways. The data is still being analyzed to determine how many deaths can be contributed to distracted driving.