The Virginian-Pilot
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Virginians may awake this morning to the 1,000th traffic fatality of the year, a milestone in highway mayhem not reached since 1990.
As of Thursday evening, Virginia's law enforcement agencies had recorded 997 fatalities despite public pleas for motorists to slow down, drive sober and wear seat belts.
Because Virginia averages about three fatalities a day and some accident victims die days after a collision, the commonwealth may already have surpassed the 1,000 mark and not know it, officials said.
"This is not a milestone we want to celebrate," said Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police. "We may already be there."
Virginia almost certainly will cross the threshold - New Year's weekend, for example, has claimed an average of 11 lives over the past five years along highways and interstates.
There were 961 people killed on Virginia highways in 2006, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles, 83 of them in South Hampton Roads' five major cities.
"If there were 1,000 people killed in plane crashes in Virginia this year, there would be a huge public outcry," said Corinne Geller, spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police.
"There would be studies and people demanding answers, and a plan to resolve the problem," she said. "But people seem willing to wipe the slate clean every year and start over."
But for thousands of families, she added, that's not possible.
Fatal crash investigations usually uncover five factors that contribute to a given fatality: failure to wear a seat belt, driving too fast, driving while impaired with drugs or alcohol, driving with distractions, and an unwillingness to share the road by driving aggressively.
Virginia this year enacted controversial new laws to punish its most aggressive drivers with hefty civil fees that can catapult a speeding ticket into a $1,000 offense. Previously,
the state also toughened the penalties for drunken driving.
Last year, lawmakers passed a law prohibiting drivers 17 and younger from talking on a cell phone while driving. And a bill for the session that starts in January has been introduced banning text messaging while driving by all drivers.
But seat belt use remains optional, despite evidence it saves lives.
"Some folks see wearing a seat belt as a personal decision," Flaherty said. "I have a prejudiced view, and I bet they have not been to as many accident scenes as I have."
The Virginia Department of Transportation has begun to implement some ideas that it hopes will make driving safer, including replacing about 1,000 highway signs in Hampton Roads with more reflective ones that employ type that is easier to read, said Britt Drewes, a VDOT spokeswoman.
Part of the increase over time may be the result of Virginia's growing population. In 1996, there were about 6.6 million Virginians.
By 2006, there were 7.6 million, according to the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.
There are limits to what the state can do. One reason this year's accidents have gone up is a spike in fatal motorcycle crashes.
There were 62 of them in the period from January to Oct. 31, 2006, and this year there have been 116 in the same time frame, an increase of 87 percent, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Geller said the spike is the result of "too much bike, too much power for too little experience" among the crop of Virginia bikers.
The Virginia State Police has used enhanced enforcement campaigns along select areas of interstates and highways to help curb dangerous behavior.
"The best way to get someone to change their driving behavior may be to have a blue and gray police car in their rearview mirror," Flaherty said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tom Holden, (757) 446-2331, tom.holden@pilotonline.com
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What a load.....
The population of Virginia was roughly 6.1 million in 1990 and now it is just over 7 million. These numbers don't necessarily include military people who do not register as residents here nor do they include the massive number of illegals who have made their way here in recent years and drive around unlicensed and uninsured. I'd say if we had the same number of deaths this year as in 1990, we're doing pretty well! The big brother loving nuts who tout more laws and more fines are clueless. First of all, most of the deaths were admittedly motorcyclists. It's obviously more likely a person on a motorcycle will sustain a serious injury or possibly die from an auto accident than a person in a car or truck! People who blame road rage are also missing the fact that most road rage issues arise because of someone doing something stupid like cutting someone off really close or from someone driving TOO SLOW, especially on the interstate, and others doing something risky to get around them and get on their way. Our interstates should be 70mph, not the foolish 55, and our police should not be revenue generators.
How lame and morbid!
I can't believe how the Pilot is perched and waiting upon someones death just so they can report it as the state's 1000th.
keeping this in perspective
This needs to be kept in perspective. When you look at the increase in the number of vehicles on VA highways things aren't so bad. And while not all, most of these fatalities are self inflicted in that they are the result of very poor judgement or simply bad behavior (ie. trying to outrun the police, etc.).
Missing the point bigtime
To all those that have "whined" in the previous posts, the solution is pretty simple: CAR CONTROL. Car control prevents crashes, not absurdly slow speed limits, not laws to prevent cell phone use, not laws regarding alcohol/drugs. Car control (or the ability to control your car) comes from a laundry list of conditions that must be met every time we are behind the wheel. This list includes, but is not limited to, attention to the task at hand (seems obvious but you'd be surprised), proper maintenance of the vehicle (tire and brake care are big ones here), awareness of the surroundings and conditions (road conditions and what other drivers are doing), and attitude towards others. The last item is a huge contributing factor that could fill dozens of books, but suffice it to say that our society is on a downward spiral, not upward. The first three and others like those factors, are essential. Driving is pretty simple at any speed, but intelligence begets car control. Pay attention, maintain your car, and drive within your limits. I raced cars on road courses for a number of years, and 165mph with folks that know how to drive properly maintained equipment and pay attention prev
insteresting comment about 55
Stayin' Alive was the slogan then. Interesting thing though is most of the deaths occurred in exactly these areas where it is 55. Northern, VA, Richmond, VA, Hampton Roads, VAB. In these city areas the speed limit is already 55. Heck, to get through most of the tunnels you have to go 55 or lower. This is not being an apologist as some would say, it is a simple fact.
Include Out Of State Drivers In Civil Remediation Fees
We have an obvious problem with out of state drivers who want to assert their reckless driving all around us as like our in-state drivers. The law must be expanded. In all, drivers have become too comfortable with their reckless behavior thanks to reliance on airbags, seatbelts, and vehicle safety ratings in concert with their acquired narccissistic, megalomaniac, "me" mentality. Each driver is completely responsible for his actions and for the safty of ALL his passengers and the drivers around him and his rights end, where another vehicles' exterior begins. Wanna act a fool on the highway? Your victims and their lawyers will own you.
Nothing will change.
I don't think it's that difficult to cut down the number of vehicular accidents and deaths we have in our State. Maybe we should have a new slogan: buckle up...shut up...slow down. Unless you're brain dead, it's obvious that seat belts do save lives. Fine the hell out of people who don't wear them. Using a cell phone while driving, which these days means not only talking, but also taking pictures and videos, text messaging, and viewing photos that your buddy just sent you, is a prime contributor towards not watching the road....and that wonderful euphemism: "lost control of the vehicle". Lastly, our speed limits are too high; the maximum throughout the U.S. should be brought down to 55 mph (country roads to 30 mph). Also, the police have to enforce the speed laws for a change....announce zero tolerance for driving over the speed limit, and stick to it. Unfortunately, the apologists will see this as creeping fascism, the politicians will continue to pander to the special interests, and nothing will change. And more people will die.
More cars & trucks on road = more traffic deaths.
Gasp! We have not had as high a number of highway deaths in our state since 1990! The sky is falling! We must raise taxes! We must increase fines! Hellllo - we have a whole lot more folks living and driving in our state than we did in 1990. What we should look at is the number of deaths per vehicle mies driven and per the number of cars and trucks on the roads. Perhaps the increased highway deaths are due to too many huge trucks killing drivers in smaller cars. To use highway deaths to justify HB 3202 is so pitiful. The speed limit in 1990 was 55 - now it is higher. Perhaps a factor as well. We have more highway lane miles now then we had in 1990.
Ban all vehicles - we've had too much vehicle violence
If we could only close the "not wearing seat belts, driving too fast, driving while impaired with drugs or alcohol, driving with distractions such as cell phones" LOOPHOLES think of all the lives we would save!!!!
Where's all the outrage from all this vehicle violence? 1,000 lives...
Sympathy for Killer Drivers.
A large portion of the people Killed in these Crashes were/are Killed by Drunken and Reckless drivers. And yet there are a very Vocal Minority of folks Whining and Crying about the civil fees that target these very same drivers. I've had seafood dinners smarter than those folks. (In my opinion.)