Traffic fatalities high in 2007

RICHMOND — Tragically Virginia closed out the year of 2007 with a traffic fatality rate in excess of 1,000 for the first time in more than 17 years, according to a state police press release.

As a result of a triple fatality in the city of Lynchburg in the predawn hours of Dec. 29, 2007, Virginia's traffic fatality rate met and exceeded the 1,000 threshold.

Today's preliminary total brings the year's traffic fatality count to 1,012 for 2007. That number includes the deaths of 83 pedestrians. According to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the last time Virginia lost 1,012 lives to traffic crashes was in 1981.

 Over the New Year's holiday weekend a preliminary count indicates 10 individuals, including one pedestrian, lost their lives in eight traffic crashes on Virginia's highways.

The counting period began Friday, Dec. 29, 2007, at 6 p.m. and ended at midnight Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008.

Alcohol was a factor in at least two of the fatal crashes. Of the nine drivers and passengers killed, seven were not buckled up.

During the 2006-2007 New Year's holiday weekend, 13 people were killed in traffic crashes, according to the release.

Of those killed during the 2007-2008 holiday weekend, one involved a pedestrian struck in Prince William County.

The remaining fatal New Year's weekend crashes occurred in the cities of Lynchburg and Hampton, and the counties of Botetourt, Page, Patrick, Warren and Wise.

Safety Tips

 
• Buckle Up
• Avoid distractions
• Share the road
• Drive drug & alcohol free
• Obey speed limits