Alabama saw a sharp increase in traffic fatalities in 2016, with the number of people killed in Cullman County up slightly, too.

Collision data compiled by the Alabama Department of Public Safety shows that 2,411 wrecks occurred in Cullman County last year, with 22 killed. In 2015, there were 2,423 wrecks reported locally, with 20 fatalities, according to the eCrash online database.

Statewide, 966 were killed in wrecks last year — a huge surge from the 787 who died in 2015. Of those 2016 fatalities, 207 died as the result of wrecks involving alcohol and/or drugs, up from 194 deaths in 2015.

Cullman County had 182 wrecks involving drivers under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, which resulted in five fatalities. Again, that’s up from the 171 DUI-related wrecks in 2015, but six people died then.

Of the Cullman County DUI wrecks, 131 involved male drivers, 50 females and one unknown gender.

Statewide, the data shows that Saturday is when most DUI wrecks occurred (nearly a quarter of all such wrecks) followed by Sundays and Fridays.

The crash data also revealed following too closely was the most common cause of wrecks in Cullman County, with 332 cited as the primary contributing factor last year.

Driving under the influence accounted for another 155, while 140 were caused by drivers misjudging stopping distance, 130 were due to drivers running stop signs, 125 by unseen object/person or vehicle, 108 for speeding, 96 for driving too fast for conditions and 77 involved fatigue or falling sleep behind the wheel.

Distracted driving was also responsible for many local wrecks.

Drivers distracted by electronic devices were blamed for 40 with another 84 caused by some other distraction inside the vehicle and 58 outside them.

Strangely, one wreck was caused by a driver being distracted by an insect/reptile.

Of Cullman’s 2,411 collisions last year, 1,570 involved another vehicle in traffic, and 145 were rollover wrecks. Twenty-nine vehicles hit deer, six others struck pedestrians, and five collided with bicyclists.

Passenger vehicles (1,084) made up the bulk of wrecks, followed by 575 pickups, 474 SUVs, 63 tractor trailers, 57 mini-vans and 30 motorcycles. Chevrolets (469) and Fords (401) were the most common vehicles involved in wrecks.

Wrecks happened nearly as frequently in the city as they did in rural areas, with 1,040 in open country, 940 in shopping and business areas, 353 in residential neighborhoods, 37 in manufacturing zones, and one at a playground.

Looking at the demographics, men caused more Cullman County wrecks than women (1,314 vs. 981), and 18-year-olds had the highest number of wrecks (112).

Most wrecks occurred on Fridays (18.7 percent) and the least on Sundays (9 percent). And following rush hour traffic patterns, most wrecks happened between 3-4 p.m., followed by 5-6 pm.

You can view collision statistics by going online to https://safety.aladata.com