The number of people killed in crashes on Virginia roadways this year is outpacing last year’s 14-year high, according to state Department of Motor Vehicle data.
In 2022 so far, 245 people have been killed in traffic crashes statewide — a nearly 13% increase from the 217 people killed between January 1 and April 19 of last year, according to Virginia’s Traffic Records Electronic Data System.
The upward trend in fatal traffic crashes this year follows the deadliest year on Virginia’s roadways in more than a decade. In 2021, 968 people died in crashes — the most since 2007, when the state saw 1,026 traffic deaths.
“This trend is poised to continue unless Virginians take action,” said Linda Ford, acting DMV Commissioner, in a statement Tuesday.
Deaths increased across several categories in 2021 — including fatalities involving commercial vehicles, bikes, motorcycles, pedestrians, teen drivers and mature drivers. Speed-related traffic fatalities increased by 9.6%.
Alcohol-related traffic deaths decreased by roughly 9% between 2020 and 2021, according to the DMV data. Unrestrained fatalities — deaths of people not using vehicles’ safety restraints — also decreased by 2.6%.
The overall increase in statewide fatal crashes matches a national surge in traffic deaths that began in 2019 and continued through the pandemic even as more people stayed off the roads, the Associated Press reported.
DMV officials are urging drivers to take “immediate, simple actions” to curb traffic deaths.
“Slow down, buckle up, focus on the task of driving and never drive impaired. It truly is that simple,” Ford said.
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