Thursday, March 28, 2024

DMV unveils interactive map of car crashes

A screenshot from the DMV’s Crash Locations Map

VIRGINIA BEACH — If you’ve ever wondered how many accidents have happened on your street, or just how dangerous your morning commute is, look no further. The Virginia DMV recently unveiled an interactive crash locations map.

Users can view accidents by type, cause and severity throughout an entire locality, or down to a single street anywhere in the Commonwealth. The agency hopes that the online tool will help make drivers more aware of the specific dangers they face — or pose, especially when it comes to distracted driving — while on the road.

“Educating drivers is an important part of crash prevention,” DMV Commisioner Richard D. Holcomb said in a press release. “This new feature allows Virginians to see where crashes occur most in their neighborhoods and the factors causing those crashes. With this information, you might use extra caution when traveling through a particular intersection or remind a new driver of the hazards of driving at an unsafe speed on a road near your home where speed-related crashes happen regularly.”

The map uses data from the Highway Safety Office’s Traffic Records Electronic Data System, or TREDS, which compiles information from police reports, DMV records and other sources. (It’s also what we used to determine the roads with the most crashes this year).

“TREDS is Virginia’s “one-stop-shop” for accurate, timely and detailed highway safety information for analysis and reporting,” according to the release. “TREDS data is used to save lives – specifically to support Virginia’s efforts to reduce crashes, injuries, fatalities and associated costs.”

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