Thirteen drivers and one passenger lost their lives in twelve traffic crashes on Virginia’s roads during the 2008 Memorial Day weekend, according to preliminary numbers.

Sixteen people died statewide in eleven crashes during the extended holiday weekend in 2007.

Four of the fatal crashes involved motorcycles and one crash involved an ATV driven on a roadway. One crash in the City of Richmond claimed the lives of two pedestrians.

In four of the six fatal crashes involving passenger vehicles, the drivers were not wearing a safety belt. The fourteen traffic crash victims ranged from 17 to 49 years of age.

Alcohol was a factor in at least five of the fatal crashes.

“The preliminary numbers from this past holiday weekend are truly disturbing from a traffic safety and enforcement perspective,” says Col. W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “Virginia is in the midst of its annual Click It or Ticket campaign and yet we still had more than 1,400 adults and children not buckled up while traveling on the road.”

The Memorial Day weekend coincided with the nationwide Click It or Ticket campaign, which began Monday, May 19, 2008, and continues through June 1, 2008. During the 2008 holiday weekend, Virginia State Police troopers statewide cited 1,062 safety belt violations and 343 child restraint violations.

Virginia’s safety belt usage rate as of July 2007 was 79.9 percent. The Commonwealth’s 2008 goal for seat belt usage is 82 percent.

The statistical counting for the Operation Combined Accident Reduction Effort holiday program began at 12:01 a.m. Friday, May 23, 2008, and ended at midnight Monday, May 26, 2008.

Through the nationwide Operation C.A.R.E. initiative, Virginia State Police patrolled 341,143 miles of Virginia roadways and assisted 3,382 motorists during the holiday statistical counting period. The total summonses and/or arrests statewide by state police included 11,450 for speeding, 2,523 for reckless driving, 168 for driving while intoxicated and 6,535 for other
hazardous violations.

Memorial Day weekend traffic fatalities occurred in the counties of Augusta, Albemarle, Botetourt, Fairfax, Hanover, and Pittsylvania. The fatality involving an ATV occurred in Frederick County.

The four fatal motorcycle crashes occurred in the City of Richmond, and the counties of Arlington, Carroll, and Patrick.