Virginia Highway Safety Office News Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Novebmer 20, 2007
Media Contact: Melanie Stokes
Department of Motor Vehicles
(804) 367-6623

Virginia Motorists Urged to Drive Safely During Thanksgiving
High-Volume of Traffic Expected

RICHMOND - Sixteen people were killed and 948 were injured on Virginia's roads during last year's Thanksgiving holiday. With more than 917,000 motorists expected on the Commonwealth's roads this Thanksgiving, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic, drivers need to practice extreme caution.

Of the 2,195 crashes during the 2006 Thanksgiving holiday period, 65 percent involved multiple vehicles. The top three driver actions that contributed to these crashes were:

• Following too closely
• Failure to yield
• Speeding

On average, there are 76 speed-related crashes per day in Virginia, but that average jumps to 91 during the Thanksgiving holiday period.

In an effort to reduce all traffic fatalities, DMV is working together with the Virginia Department of Transportation, Virginia State Police, AAA Mid-Atlantic and several other agencies to improve traffic safety. The Highway Safety Challenge is an effort to reduce the number of fatalities by 100 by the year 2010. The "Are You Virginia's Next Traffic Fatality?" campaign aligns the partners' individual safety efforts to address some of the most significant risk factors for highway fatalities, and offer safety reminders. To find out more about taking the Highway Safety Challenge, visit www.safeVAhighways.org.

Drivers are asked to adhere to these five key rules of the road this Thanksgiving holiday and every day:

• Buckle up
• Avoid distractions
• Share the road
• Drive drug and alcohol free
• Obey the speed limit

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