ST. PAUL — State public safety officials say it’s been a deadly start to the month on Minnesota roads.

The Department of Public Safety says 14 people have died since Feb. 1. Seven of those deaths happened during a four-day stretch, from Feb. 5-8.

Four of the six motorists who died were not wearing their seat belts. The seventh person was a pedestrian.

In the first 10 days of February, the number of traffic fatalities has exceeded the nine people killed during the long month of January.

The department’s Office of Traffic Safety says the lack of seat belts accounts for about half of the motorists killed overall in Minnesota. Speed or drunken driving is a factor in one in five deaths. And distracted driving is involved in one in four fatalities.