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Drivers urged brush up on road rules following 12 fatal crashes in July

Delaware Public Media

Delaware has already seen 12 fatal accidents this month, leaving 16 people dead. It's prompting AAA Mid-Atlantic to urge drivers to reacquaint themselves with the rules of the road.

 

Delaware State Police say six fatal crashes have occured in New Castle County, two in Kent and four in Sussex County. And one of the New Castle County crashes killed five members of one family when their minivan was hit by a wrong-way driver on Route 1.

State Police and AAA Mid-Atlantic agree there’s no pattern to the fatal crashes.

“For some reason this summer we are seeing an inordinate number of deaths on Delaware’s roadways. This seems to be happening all over the place and there doesn’t seem to be a common  pattern to these tragedies. There’s a variety of factors that seem to be causing each one,” said AAA Spokesman Ken Grant.

He says it time for all drivers just to take a moment to review the rules of the road, such as following the speed limit and avoiding distracted driving. Grant adds that cyclists and pedestrians should also brush up on the rules.

Statistics from Delaware’s Office of Highway Safety show that highway deaths in Delaware this year are outpacing fatalities in 2017.  There were 48 fatalities this time last year. There have already been 62 in 2018.

 

But 2016 was worse - OHS statistics show there 67 fatalities by mid July that year.

 
 

Kelli Steele has over 30 years of experience covering news in Delaware, Baltimore, Winchester, Virginia, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego, California.