Traffic deaths increase in Virginia

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - Traffic deaths in Virginia are up significantly from last year.

The Roanoke Times reports that 815 people were killed on Virginia roads in 2017 through Saturday. That's up from 705 deaths for the same period last year, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

This year's count doesn't include four deaths in the Roanoke area over the weekend, including a 75-year-old woman and an 81-year-old man who died in separate incidents.

About 40 percent of Virginia's traffic fatalities involve a vehicle hitting a fixed object, like a tree or a poll.

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