Virginia is one of the most beautiful states in the country, full of history, lovely countryside, and of course warm people with a strong sense of hospitality. But like anywhere else in the United States there are traffic accidents and many of these accidents result in injuries, sometimes serious injuries or even death. To know more, please visit: http://www.hmrwlaw.com.

1. Virginia Car Crashes On the Rise
Virginia is one of the most beautiful states in the country, full of history, lovely countryside, and of
course warm people with a strong sense of hospitality. But like anywhere else in the United States there
are traffic accidents and many of these accidents result in injuries, sometimes serious injuries or even
death. While Virginia is far from the highest rates of car accidents in the US, the accident rate overall is
on the rise.
To understand these trends it’s helpful to look at some hard data. The Virginia Highway Safety Office
of the state Department of Motor Vehicles has recently released its 2012 Traffic Crash Facts. This
annual report is a bird’s eye look at traffic accidents by type, drawing on statewide statistics drawn
from official accident reports. It acts as a very useful starting point for identifying year-to-year trends in
accidents on Virginia’s roads.
In 2012, the overall rates of accidents in Virginia went up, albeit not much – only 2.5%. The numbers
of injuries and deaths from accidents both went up as well. This is partly explained by an increase in
the total number of cars on the road – the total number of registered vehicles in Virginia has gone up us
well. However, the number of cars has only increased less than 1% and doesn’t fully account for the
higher number of accidents.
Possible explanations include the fact that new car sales have been down since 2009, with more people
saving money by driving older cars – which may contribute to the accident rate. The increase in
accidents likely also reflected continued economic hardship in parts of Virginia, as people tend to make
more mistakes when driving if they are under a great deal of stress.
One thing that cannot be blamed for the increase is alcohol. The number of drivers who had more than
the legal limit of alcohol in their system has decreased by 4%, likely because of stricter DUI
enforcement and an increased DUI conviction rate. The number of deaths from DUI-related accidents
has gone down dramatically as well (6.5%). The number of injuries from DUI’s went up, but this may
partly be because of the offset of the lowered death rate – people who were not killed in DUI-related
accidents were instead reported as injured.
These numbers tell a compelling story that law enforcement tends to work in Virginia especially when
backed up with proper resources and public awareness – but that accidents are still common and so are
injuries and deaths.
If you live in Virginia and you’ve been injured in a car accident, talk to a lawyer immediately. A good
personal injury lawyer can help you recover compensation to pay for your medical bills and damages.
The law offices of Howard, Morrison, Ross, and Whelan would be proud to provide you with a skilled
attorney to fight for your rights.
To know more, please visit: http://www.hmrwlaw.com.