Recent Studies of Evening Rush Hour Crash Fatalities, Hit-and-runs Show Virginia among Worst in Nation
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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Recent studies about fatal evening rush-hour accidents and hit-and-run accidents in Virginia show the commonwealth ranking poorly compared with other states in both categories. The Old Dominion ranks third nationally in evening rush-hour fatalities, and second nationally in hit-and-run crashes.
Though reports about accidents and travel tend to lag owing to the time it requires to collect and report information, these recent studies by Kitchel Law deserve attention.
Recent orders forcing government workers back to their offices means a return to heavy congestion during the evening rush and more tired workers on local roads.
The Kitchel studies used National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data between 2018 and 2022 for its study.
The number of fatal crashes during the evening rush (defined as 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.) in Virginia comes in at 27 per 100,000 licensed drivers. That number is “440% higher than the national average of five fatal crashes per 100,000 licensed drivers,” according to Kitchell. Only New York State (34.6 per 100,000 licensed drivers) and Alabama (28.4 per 100,000 ) had worse numbers.
Kitchel’s findings look to dovetail with the most-recent data from the Virginia Highway Safety Office, a part of the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Looking at fatal accidents in Virginia Senate District 27 for January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023, most fatalities occurred between 6:00 p.m. and 8:59 p.m. Of the 13 fatal accidents recorded in SD - 27 during that period, five were on I95, and the remainder were on secondary roads.
Regarding hit-and-run accidents, the Kitchel study has even worse numbers to report for Virginia.
The Old Dominion ranks second with 6.85 hit-and-run reports per 100,000 licensed drivers, trailing on New York with 16.35 reports per 100,000. Virginia’s rate is some 315% above the national average of 1.65 reports per 100,000.
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