Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 3 of 9 · from the scan, no model involved
Virginia Sees Drop
In Traffic Deaths
Richmond, Va.-An encouraging drop in Virginia traffic deaths from 1,304 in 1969 to 1,226 in 1970, despite an increase of some five percent in traffic volumes, was reported today by Colonel H. W. Burgess, Superintendent of State Police. Colonel Burgess attributed the improvement to a growing spirit of public awareness and cooperation and to increased official activity on both the state and national levels. “Another factor,” he said “could be the shock of the heavy increase occasioned in 1969 when deaths rose from 1,218 in 1968 to 1,304 in 1969.”
He tentatively placed (die rate of deaths per each 100 million miles of travel at 4.4 to compare well with the national one of 4.9. Virginia’s 1969 rate was 4.8 and the national 5.3
Pedestrian deaths were even at 241. Crashes killing more than one person each were down from 123 killing a total of 300 to 121 killing 283. Non-collision crashes, involving contact with no other vehicle or a pedestrian, dropped from 500 killing 582 to 438 killing 504. This decrease, Colonel Burgess noted, is a good sign since such crashes usually spring from excessive speed, drowsiness or drinking. Urban deaths rose from 292 to 319 but rural ones were down from 1,009 to 907. Deaths of servicemen jumped sharply from 55 to 80. A string of reductions in motorcycle deaths was broken when they rose from 16 to 29.
Virginia saw 1,050 deaths in 1964, 1,062 in 1965, 1,106 in 1966, 1,223 in 1967, and 1,218 in 1968. Although there was a slight
96.0%