Last year, saw an uptick in vehicle crashes in Hampton but a decrease in Newport News.
According to the Department of Motor Vehicles Virginia Highway Safety Office Traffic Crash Facts report from 2017, there were 114,897 licensed drivers in Newport News, down from 117,774 the year before.
In Hampton, licensed drivers decreased to 89,339 from 91,734.
However, there were 3,108 vehicle crashes in 2017, 121 more than in 2016.
In Newport News, there were fewer crashes — 2017 saw 3,491 crashes in the city. In 2016, there were 3,581.
Last year in Hampton there were nine alcohol, speed and unrestricted fatalities. In 2016, there were six.
“We experienced a higher number of fatalities across the board from 2016 to 2017,” said Brandy Brubaker, public relations and media liaison with the DMV. “Numbers were up across the state. It’s something we’re looking at and trying to figure out what’s behind this increase in fatalities.”
In Newport News, the trend was reversed: there were 22 such crashes in 2016 and in 2017 there were 19.
Breaking down the total numbers in Hampton and Newport News combined, there were 322 crashes that involved alcohol (7 fatalities); 1072 crashes that involved speed (15 fatalities); and 152 crashes involving unrestrained drivers (6 fatalities). Some of the total fatalities count twice in those categories because of more than one factor, for example a death because of both alcohol and speed.
“We always take a look at those crashes and look at why they happened,” Brubaker said, adding they work with state and local police to implement educational and awareness programs intended to address any issues they identify.
