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 2 · column 5 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
RICHMOND — Colonel W.F. Corvello, Superintendent of the Virginia State Police, called attention to the increase in fatalities this year on Virginia’s highways and urged motorists to take every precaution to see that they, and their loved ones, do not become a 1990 statistic.
Preliminary motor vehicle crash reports show 92 more fatalities for the first seven months of this year compared to a similar period in 1989. Total fatalities for 1989 were 999 and, should this year’s current 17 percent increase continue, the total would reach 1,169 by year’s end. This would represent the highest fatality figure in Virginia since 1973 (1,220), the year prior to establishment of the 55 miles per hour national speed limit.
“We can determine the reason or reasons for specific crashes in most cases,” said Col. Corvello. “We also know that numerous factors such as weather, road conditions, vehicle condition, and driver behavior contribute to the frequency of crashes, but it’s difficult to determine specific reasons why the number of motor crashes, injuries and fatalities vary from year-to-year. ”
Preliminary statistics for the first seven months of this year, for example, indicate that the increased number of fatalities could be traced in part to something as nebulous as the number of persons who just by circumstance are in a vehicle involved in a fatal crash or the number
94.7%