More speeding drivers and “less proactive” police enforcement have helped to drive a nearly 20% increase in fatalities on Virginia’s roadways over six years, a recent state report says.
The Virginia State Crime Commission — which analyzed six years of state car crash data — said there were 1,005 crash fatalities on the Old Dominion’s roadways in 2022, up from 843 in 2017.
More than 5,300 people in Virginia — including 923 in Hampton Roads — were killed in car crashes during that stretch, the report says. That included people who died in cars and trucks as well as those struck while walking or riding bicycles.
The increase in roadway deaths, the state report said, is a result of “an escalation in risky driving behaviors,” such as speeding, impaired driving and failing to wear a seat belt. Larger and heavier vehicles also likely played a role, the report said.
The 19% jump in fatalities came despite a 4% reduction in total car crashes in Virginia over the same six-year period, the report shows.
Speed was a factor in nearly half — or 43% — of the state’s roadway fatalities, while alcohol was a factor in just over a quarter of them. More than a third of those killed — or 37% — were not wearing seat belts.
The increase in roadway deaths came as police and sheriff’s deputies throughout the state have sharply cut back on the number of speeding tickets they handed out.
“While Virginia has a number of laws meant to promote roadway safety, the enforcement of many of these laws has been significantly decreasing in recent years,” the report said.
Cutbacks in traffic enforcement that began during the pandemic have still not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
In 2022, for example, there were just over 171,500 speeding tickets issued statewide for people accused of going up to 19 miles over posted limits. That was down 37% from the more than 274,000 such speeding tickets in 2017.
Tickets for “reckless driving by speed” — for going 20 mph or more above the limit — also fell sharply, the numbers show. There were just over 52,000 such tickets issued in 2022 — a 47% drop from the more than 99,000 handed out five years earlier.
Charges brought for failing to wear a seat belt have likewise dropped sharply — to about 21,000 such tickets statewide in 2022 from nearly 39,000 in 2017. That’s a reduction of 46%.
Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, said the manpower shortages at the state’s police departments are real — and it affects basic public safety.
“We just don’t have as many people out there on the road as we need to have,” she said. “It’s a big concern.”
Aggressive driving, including people hitting speeds of more than 100 mph, is on the rise, Schrad added. The crashes that do occur, she said, “are more likely to have serious injuries and fatalities.”
Police manpower shortages, she said, began across the country with officer retention and recruitment challenges following the George Floyd protests in 2020. “They didn’t feel like they had the respect of the public anymore,” she said.
It’s been a struggle in many departments ever since, Schrad said.
Moreover, she said, there’s there’s been “a hesitation” by some departments to conduct the high visibility traffic stops that once were routine.
“We’ve been trying to restore that positive relationship with our communities,” Schrad said. “To make sure people understand that when you pull somebody over for a traffic violation, you’re doing it not only in their best interest, but in the interest of other people on the road.”
The Virginia State Crime Commission first publicly presented the results of their car crash research at a meeting in November. But the commission completed the report this year — and first published it online June 30 as part of the board’s annual report to the governor and General Assembly.
The commission a 13-member state board that includes six members of the House of Delegates, three members of the state Senate, three citizens appointed by the governor, and a representative of the state attorney general’s office.
Among other things, the commission advises the General Assembly on possible changes that could be made to state law. In this case, for example, that includes changes “to promote roadway safety.”
To reduce traffic crash fatalities, the report said, Virginia should consider expanding remote speed monitoring and make failing to wear a seat belt a primary offense — which would mean someone could be pulled over for that alone.
States where not wearing a safety belt is a primary offense, the report said, tend to have better seat belt usage and fewer fatalities.
The commission said the state could also boost technology to help officers determine whether drivers are impaired by drugs. The state can also bar headphone use while driving and create a new criminal charge for injuring someone by reckless driving.
The study — conducted in 2023 at the request of the General Assembly — included examining six years of Virginia Department of Transportation car crash data, delving into traffic laws and talking with various stakeholders.
The report found that there were nearly 734,000 traffic crashes — and more than 5,300 roadway fatalities — in Virginia between 2017 and 2022.
More than 85% of the fatal collisions were on non-interstate roadways, the report said, and more than half — or 54% — were single-vehicle accidents. About 71% of those who died on the roads were male.
A significant number of pedestrians were struck and killed by cars in Virginia.
They accounted for 771 of the fatalities over the six years — or about 15% of the total. Their numbers spiked sharply to 171 pedestrian deaths in 2022, up 50% from five years earlier.
About a third of the pedestrians killed were above legal limits for intoxication, the report shows. Those between 50 to 69 were more likely than other age groups to be killed while walking. And most pedestrian fatalities occur at night.
Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com
Correction: Due to a reporting error, a prior version of this story undercounted the number of roadway fatalities in Hampton Roads between 2017 and 2022. There were 923 roadway fatalities in the region in that six-year period, according to the state report.
