A spike in the number of traffic fatalities around the state this year may make 2006 one of the deadliest in recent memory. And while accidents can happen for different reasons, fatal accidents have a common denominator: safety belt use.
According to a 2005 Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles report, of 750 fatalities from “crashes involving safety restraints,” a majority—454—involved passengers or drivers that were not harnessed or belted. (In case you’ve forgotten, drivers in Virginia are legally required to belt up.)
At present, the 2006 highway death count totals 636, compared to 621 on September 14, 2005. Statistics from Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles noted that last year’s crash-related fatalities were themselves up by 2.6 percent from the previous year.
Last week, six traffic fatalities were reported in two days alone, between Tuesday, September 12, and Thursday, September 14, including one on Albemarle County’s Blenheim Road.
That accident, at Blenheim and Jefferson Mill roads, claimed the life of 23-year-old Jessie Gibson. His passenger, though injured, survived the accident in which their vehicle overturned after leaving the road and colliding with a sign.
Gibson was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, while his passenger was.
Virginia has seen an uneven highway death rate since 1996, bottoming out at 1.08 deaths per 100 million miles in 2001, and peaking at 1.32 in 1997.
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