Lack of seat belt use, speeding and driver inattention blamed
The driver of a May 6 single-car crash in Peru has died, bringing the total number of 2023 Vermont highway fatalities to 29, state police say.
Mary Butera, 75, of Londonderry, Vermont, died this week due to injuries she sustained in the crash.
Butera was traveling west on VT Route 11 in Shaftsbury before she lost control of her 2018 Volkswagen. Mary’s vehicle crossed the yellow centerline into the eastbound lane of travel, where she then left the roadway and traveled through the eastbound embankment. Mary’s vehicle went airborne into a guide wire from a power pole. She was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
As of Monday, there have been 29 people killed in 25 crashes, state police say. The number of fatalities through May 29 has been climbing every year since 2019: 7 that year, 10 in 2020, 19 in 2021, and 27 in 2022.
“We are seeing a lack of seat belt usage; speeding; and driver inattention as contributary factors in a large number of these incidents,” VSP spokesperson Adam Silverman said today.
Categories: Police Reports
In the graph showing the number of fatalities this year compared to the last 5 years. How can you have a larger number of fatal accidents than the number of fatalities.
Example last year, 29 Fatal accidents but only 27 fatalities.
two cars crash, one person dies, maybe?
Engineers have done a tremendous job with safety design. Rarely is a fatal crash vehicle seen without the passenger compartment being intact. However, there has been a regression in responsible behavior and driving skills paralleling the sense of entitlement and diminished IQ scores. Not everyone has the mindset to safely operate a motor vehicle on our highways. The obstacle is, how to identify these mental defectives before they kill someone.
No “obstacle” for society to overcome, no need for further government involvement and regulation imposed on the masses, no more ridiculous safety features or driver-less vehicles, just let nature run its course as we do in the wild.
Federal, State and local government entities have succeeded in mostly removing Darwinian evolution from our society, but the decisions on how to drive and whether to buckle up is one exception for people who like to live dangerously. It’s not always a bad idea to let people be victims of their own demise, but unfortunately some of those people take others with them.
On further thought is the recent availability and and popularity of vaping high THC product a coincidence with the uptick in fatal crashes? Yeah, I don’t believe in coincidence.
Weed, vaxxidents, cell phones, dashboard tablets and out of state speeders from places like Springfield. All of the above.
Seat belts are critical: I will personally attest to that (two incidents over the past 20 years). But the two big things that are changing are: 1) legalization of weed, and 2) a noticeable deterioration in the condition of MANY roads. The weed isn’t anything much new here, but the road conditions… It is appalling that our state charges us so much in taxes, yet can not get our major roads repaired anywhere near as well as they were 30 years ago.