Highway Fatalities Over Memorial Day Weekend Down From 2022 Deaths: State Police

VIRGINIA — Four motorcyclists were among the nine people who died in crashes on Virginia's roads over the 2023 Memorial Day weekend, down from the 16 people who died in crashes over last year’s Memorial Day weekend, according to preliminary data released by the Virginia State Police.

The nine people died in seven crashes that occurred in Loudoun, Orange, Shenandoah and Henry counties and the City of Richmond. Two of the four fatal motorcycle crashes occurred in Loudoun County; the other two occurred in Shenandoah County and Richmond, police said.

The holiday statistical counting period began Friday, May 26 and concluded at midnight on Monday, May 29.

Virginia troopers cited 4,990 speeders and 1,924 reckless drivers, and arrested 89 impaired drivers over the long holiday weekend. In addition, 169 felony arrests were made. Virginia State Police also investigated a total of 1,846 traffic crashes statewide.

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The Virginia State Police participated in Operation Crash Awareness Reduction Effort, or C.A.R.E., and the annual Click It or Ticket seat belt education and enforcement campaign over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

During the four-day statistical counting period, Virginia troopers cited 771 seat belt violations and 136 child restraint violations.

“We are in the midst of schools letting out and summer travel plans being made,” Gary Settle, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, said in a statement. “We desperately need drivers and passengers to make a committed effort to buckle up everyone in a vehicle, share the road responsibly with motorcycles, and drive distraction free.”

The nine deaths compared to 16 people who died on Memorial Day weekend in 2022 and 15 people who died on Virginia roads on Memorial Day weekend in 2021.

The period between Memorial Day and Labor Day is a season of increased risks on the roads. More than 7,300 people died nationwide in crashes involving inexperienced teen drivers from 2012 to 2021 during the 100 Deadliest Days, AAA said in a news release. That’s nearly half of the number of those killed in teen-driver crashes for the entire remaining months out of the year.

In Virginia, 141 people were killed in crashes involving teen drivers ages 15 to 18, representing 31 percent of all vehicle crash fatalities during that 10-year period.

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