This is tragic. The year is not getting off to a good start on Virginia’s highways. In some cases, folks would certainly have survived had  they been wearing their seatbelts. (I can still remember the TV commercials, from the early 60’s “Buckle up for safety, buckle up for safety, always buckle up.”

Here are some recent press releases about Virginia car accidents from the Virginia State Police.

According to state police, five people in Virginia died within a three day span from personal injuries they received from accidents on the state’s roads.

According to Virginia State Police, on Saturday, February 2 a 28-year-old man from Bridgewater died in Rockingham County after his car struck a bridge and overturned in a creek. He was not wearing a seatbelt.

On the same day, a 30-year-old man from Pearisburg died in Giles County after he ran off the road at state Route 200, overcorrected, and then rolled the vehicle. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle, the police said.

On Friday, February 1, a 43-year-old man from Dillwyn died in Buckingham County after his pickup truck struck a bridge after hitting a patch of ice, according to state police. They said that even though he was wearing his seat belt, he was ejected from the vehicle. Not sure how that  happened if he really was wearing a seatbelt.)

Also on Friday, a 65-year-old man from Covington died in Botetourt County after his SUV ran off the road and over an embankment, state police said.

On Thursday, January 31, a 36-year-old man suffered fatal personal injuries in Campbell County after he pulled in front of another vehicle. Police said he died three hours afterwards at Lynchburg General Hospital.

In the year 2008 so far, 55 people have died on the highways of Virginia.