Five people died in four fatal crashes statewide over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, making it the second-most deadly Thanksgiving on record, according to the director of the state office of Highway Safety.

James Carpenter said those numbers were preliminary numbers. None of the five confirmed fatalities were restrained by seatbelts and all were ejected from vehicles that rolled.

A 20-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman from Bruce, Wis., died early Sunday when a pickup in which they were riding skidded on an ice-covered bridge and rolled on Interstate 90 near Kennebec. Fatal crashes on Interstate 29 claimed the life of a 34-year-old Sioux Falls man on Saturday, and a 59-year-old Canistota man and a 49-year-old Beresford man on Thursday.

Carpenter said South Dakota has made great strides in reducing highway fatalities in recent years, and the Thanksgiving fatalities demonstrate the importance of obeying seatbelt laws.

"We have the laws that would save lives. Every life that we can prevent from a tragic end is something we need to work on," he said.