Fewest Thanksgiving Holiday Traffic Deaths Reported In Virginia Over Past Decade

VIRGINIA — Four people died in traffic crashes in Virginia over the Thanksgiving weekend, the smallest number of traffic fatalities during the holiday weekend in the past 10 years, according to preliminary data released by the Virginia State Police.

The fatal crashes occurred in the counties of Albemarle, Chesterfield, Fairfax and Spotsylvania. Of those crashes, one involved a pedestrian. This is a decrease from 2020 when there were 12 traffic fatalities during the five-day Thanksgiving statistical counting period.

The five-day reporting period began at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 24 and ended at midnight on Sunday, Nov. 28.

“Although even one life lost is a tragedy, this Thanksgiving has given us something to truly be thankful for,” Colonel Gary T. Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent, said in a statement Thursday.

This Thanksgiving, the number of people issued summons for reckless driving and seatbelts were down compared to last year, even though more people were on the roads, Settle noted.

The four deaths in 2021 compare to 14 deaths reported over Thanksgiving weekend in 2017 and 2012, the most deaths reported over the holiday weekend in the past decade, according to the Virginia State Police.

In an effort to prevent traffic deaths and injuries during the Thanksgiving holiday, the Virginia State Police participated in Operation CARE, or Crash Awareness and Reduction Effort, an annual program during which the state police increases its visibility and traffic enforcement efforts during the five-day statistical counting period.

The 2021 Thanksgiving Holiday CARE initiative resulted in troopers citing 5,127 speeders and 1,565 reckless drivers statewide. Virginia troopers arrested 65 drivers for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and cited 477 drivers for failing to buckle up themselves or juvenile passengers.

State police responded to 1,273 traffic crashes across the state during the five-day period, with 139 of those resulting in injuries.

RELATED: Thanksgiving Holiday Traffic Deaths Increase In Virginia: Police