OUR VIEW: Is Sturgis rally worth the trouble? - Daily Republic
This year, officials are estimating Sturgis may hit 1 million visitors, which would be an all-time high. The rally is a staple event for South Dakota, much like opening pheasant hunting weekend and visiting Mount Rushmore, but we're starting to wonder if the rally does more harm for our state than good. Consider these Sturgis-related statistics from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety through 6 a. m. Monday. The state Department of Public Safety started tracking numbers on July 28, well before the rally's official start. The rally runs Monday through Sunday. Aside from the criminal charges that have been handed out are the numerous injury and fatal crashes. The Department of Public Safety said there have been 29 Sturgis-related injury accidents and three fatalities thus far. A scary crash occurred Saturday morning east of Mitchell, in a construction zone, which sent one woman to the hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries. Another construction zone crash occurred Sunday morning west of Murdo that killed an Iowa motorcyclist. Certainly the rally brings in millions of tourism dollars to our state. But each summer we hear of sex trafficking arrests in Sturgis, far too many drug and DUI arrests and people being killed and injured from crashes in which they're headed to. Source: www.mitchellrepublic.com
