Drivers: Put SAFETY FIRST during the Thanksgiving Holiday

As the long Thanksgiving weekend approaches Virginia State Police are urging drivers to be extra careful when they hit the road with their friends and family.  Most of all drivers are urged to buckle up and to ensure that all of their passengers are buckled up, too.

One officer recounts a tragic traffic accident that shaped his belief in seat belt use.  A family an SUV crashed and flipped over.  A 10 year old girl who was sleeping in the cargo area without any restraints was ejected from the vehicle and killed at the scene of the crash.  The rest of the family in the SUV were not hurt in the crash.

This is exactly the type of horrific, preventable crash that police would like to avoid seeing on Virginia roads this year.  However, despite outreach and education efforts not all road users are getting the message that seat belts save lives.

There were 31 fatalities on Virginia roads for the last two four-day weekend travel periods, and 39 percent of those killed were not restrained.  This means that a disproportionate number of those not wearing seat belts are killed in crashes, and many of those deaths may have been avoided had proper restraints been used.

Other contributing factors to the number of accidents over holiday weekends are tired and distracted drivers.  Drivers are especially prone to being tired during holiday weekends, when celebrations with their friends and families sometimes leave them exhausted.

Read our holiday travel tips in our car accident & injury law library.