ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 16, 1990                   TAG: 9007160116
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

INTERSTATE FATALITIES UP

Although fatal traffic accidents in Virginia have risen since the state increased the speed limit to 65 mph on some stretches, officials are not ready to say there's a definite link between the two.

Virginia raised the speed limit from 55 mph to 65 mph on rural interstates on July 1, 1988.

Accidents resulting in fatalities on rural interstates jumped from 40 in 1987 to 59 in 1988, a 47.5 percent increase. The number of deaths rose from 44 to 63, a 43 percent increase.

The latest report in an ongoing five-year Virginia study focused on accident and speed survey data from 1987 and 1989, the years immediately before and after the increase.

"There are insufficient data to link changes in the numbers of fatal crashes and fatalities to the change in the speed limit," said the study team of Jack D. Jernigan and Cheryl W. Lynn.

Virginia saw a significantly higher percentage increase than the average for the 39 other 65 mph states. In those states, fatal crashes on rural interstates increased 32 percent while deaths rose 35 percent. In the remaining all-55 mph states, fatal crashes on similar highways increased 17 percent and deaths just 11 percent.

But Virginia's 1988 rate of fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled is 1.88, lower than the national average of 2.3 and less than some neighboring states, such as Maryland at 2.1. Maryland remains an all-55 mph state.

A draft of the latest study was completed for legislators in January. The final form was mailed to state officials last week.

The Transportation Research Council of Charlottesville predicted that the 3.6 mph jump in average speed on rural interstates between 1987 and 1989 would mean up to 22 more deaths. In fact, 19 more people were killed.

Nationally, the speed limit increase is estimated to have cost an additional 600 lives in 1987 and 1988, according to a federal study released last fall. 


 by CNB