Breaking News for Culpeper and Warrenton Accident Victims

Virginia DMV reports traffic fatalities dropped, injuries rose in 2008

Posted on Aug 20, 2009

According to the most recently published Virginia Crash Facts – a document published every year since 1985 by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles – the number of traffic fatalities in Virginia has dropped.

In 2008, the most recent year for which data was available, there were 821 traffic accident deaths. This is a decrease of about 20 percent from the previous year. The fatality rate in 2008 was also the lowest it has been since 1966.

While road deaths may have dropped, the number of injuries rose over the previous year’s numbers. In 2008 a total of 69,130 people were injured in traffic crashes, up 45 percent from 2007.

The data compiled by the Virginia DMV also revealed that the most dangerous time of the day is the afternoon commute. The majority of crashes in 2008 occurred between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. Speed is also still an issue for drivers involved in accidents, with over a thousand drivers traveling over 70 miles per hour just before a crash.

One change that might be expected for coming years is the rise in the number of distracted driving accidents. With more focus on the various forms of distracted driving – cell phone use, text messaging behind the wheel, and more – authorities may begin tracking these kinds of accidents more closely.