Va. sees drop in fatal crashes

By Uriah A. Kiser

Published: January 8, 2009

Coming on the heels of a fatal crash that killed a 16-year-old Lake Ridge girl Wednesday, state officials said the number of traffic deaths were down in 2008.

Just over 800 people lost their lives on Virginia roads last year - that number down from 1,026 in 2007.

State police said that is the lowest number in the past 16 years.

“What a difference we have seen in the last 12 months on Virginia’s highways and we are certainly encouraged with the drastic drop in traffic fatalities,” said Col. Stephen Flaherty, Virginia State Police superintendent.

Police began their statistical New Year’s counting period on Dec. 31 at 6 p.m. and ended it on Jan. 4.

Just four people lost their lives over the holiday, making it one of the lowest fatality counts in the last decade, he said.

Out of the four fatal crashes, two of them happened in Fairfax County.

No one involved in any of the four fatal crashes was wearing a seatbelt.

Alcohol was a factor in only one of the fatal crashes, Flaherty said.

Just a year ago 14 people lost their lives on state roads during the same time period.

Six lost their lives on state roads over the 2008 Christmas holiday, from Dec. 24 through Dec. 28.

The last time police saw a fatality number that low over the Christmas holiday was ten years ago.

Just after 4:30 p.m. yesterday police said a 2005 Chevy Aveo lost control on Old Bridge Road, crossed the median and collided with a 2005 Lincoln Navigator SUV.

A passenger in the Aveo, 16-year-old Shelby B. Nicholson, was killed. She was a student at Woodbridge High School.

The accident happened between Oakwood and Colby drives, where the road slopes down into a stream bed, passing through a sharp s-curve.

The driver of the Aveo was sent to the hospital in critical condition.

The SUV’s 22-year-old driver and her 51-year-old passenger were taken to the hospital for injuries that did not appear to be life threatening, police said.

The crash was the second along the same area of road in less than 24 hours.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.