19 Die on Roads During Holiday Weekend
Nineteen fatalities were recorded on Virginia roads over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, Virginia State Police said yesterday.
Reckless driving was cited as the cause of 15 of the 18 fatal crashes. Alcohol was a factor in five. Two victims were pedestrians, 10 were drivers and seven were passengers. Victims ranged in age from 5 to 88.
In Northern Virginia, fatal accidents occurred in Fairfax, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties.
As of yesterday, 803 traffic deaths had been reported in the state, compared with 857 during the same time last year.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"After we got it, we gave it to a friend's sister, and she gave it to her boyfriend . . . for his birthday."
-- Steven Simon, who, with friend Conrad "C.J." Mercure Jr.,
removed an inflatable SpongeBob SquarePants from the roof
of a Burger King in St. Mary's County -- Page B1
Compiled from reports by staff writers Mary Beth Sheridan, Caryle Murphy, Allen Lengel, John Wagner, Nancy Trejos and Tom Jackman.
