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Highway
Deaths
Increase
After four consecutive years of a steadily declining death toll on Virginia’s highways, the number of traffic fatalities has suddenly began to increase according to the Virginia State Police.
Preliminary third quarter statistics for 1977 indicate that 817 persons died in motor vehicle accidents from January 1 through September 30, 1977, compared with 785 for the same period last year.
In releasing the information, the State Police noted that the sudden increase was due to an unusually high number of highway fatalities, 122, during the month of September. As of the end of August, Virginia’s traffic death count was four less than a year ago.
The September 1977 figure was the third highest number of highway deaths ever recorded for the month. Only in 1970 and 1973 had higher September figures been tallied, 130 and 128, respectively.
In contrast, the State Police reported that pedestrian deaths continued to show a downward trend, 119 through the third quarter of 1977 compared to 131 for the same period last year.
95.8%