Winter weather causes traffic accident headaches for Virginia police

Virginia police have been busy cleaning up after errant motorists this holiday season.  Snow, rain and ice have made driving on Virginia roads and highways more dangerous than usual.

According to a Virginia state police spokesperson, in a single recent snowy weekend, troopers had to handle 135 traffic accidents and 395 disabled cars on Northern Virginia roads. 

In addition, troopers received 6,780 calls for service.  1,153 of those calls were for cars that had been in an accident, and 1,969 were for calls involving disabled vehicles.

The recent spate of bad weather has police reminding drivers to take it easy on Virginia roads.  This holiday season, stay safe and remember to:

• Slow down and drive at a speed that is safe for weather conditions
• Don’t drive if you have had too much to drink
• Pull over if you are too tired to drive safely
• Pay attention to the road – don’t talk on your phone, send text messages, eat, groom, etc. while driving
• Give snow plows and other large vehicles plenty of room to maneuver in bad weather

Please read more about winter driving in our law library article “How Negligent Drivers Contribute to Serious Winter Car Accidents”.