Over the Thanksgiving holiday, numerous traffic incidents plagued drivers.
In the Roanoke and Montgomery County area, 1,326 tickets were given for speeding. There were 231 drivers cited for reckless driving, eight DUIs, 77 safety belt violations and 27 child seatbelt violations. In addition, 1033 tickets were given for “other” violations.
Across the state, 13 people were killed in 13 separate crashes during the five-day holiday period between Wednesday and Sunday. Alcohol was a factor in at least four of the incidents.
Statewide, there were 10,459 speeding tickets, 2,657 reckless driving cases and 132 DUIs.
Corrine Geller, spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, said that the violations came from “pure volume” of drivers.
“The roads were congested,” she said, citing travelers commuting for Thanksgiving as well as the high number of college students going back to school over the weekend as the chief causes of traffic incidents.
Tech students traveling back to Blacksburg Sunday evening experienced numerous delays. Several multi-car pileups, one involving around 20 cars, delayed the traffic flow even further.