DMV Announces a New Street Level Crash Map

The Virginia DMV has unveiled a new webpage that combines their database of traffic crashes with an interactive map.  The result is a map that shows the exact location and severity of a car accident.

In the statewide view, the map shows the number of crashes in each county.  Virginia Beach, for example, recorded more than 6,000 accidents in 2010.  Zooming in on the map will provide precise locations and times of individual accidents.

The new page is seen as a safety benefit.  In a news release, DMV Commissioner Richard Holcomb points out that prospective home buyers can learn which streets or intersections are more accident prone.

For now, the map includes data from 2009 and 2010.  DMV spokeswoman Melanie Stokes tells me 2011 data will be added in a few months.  Crash data from earlier years will be added later. 

In the meantime, the DMV does have a website with text listings of accident data going back to 1999.  That page can be found here.

On the web:
http://www.dmv.virginia.gov/webdoc/safety/crash_data/mapping/tredsmapping.asp

DMV Can Help You Avoid the Number 13

On this Friday the 13th, the Virginia DMV is offering triskaidekaphobics a chance to avoid the number 13 on their cars all of next year.

The DMV is reminding customers that license plates can be renewed for more than one year.  So if someone is truly fearful of the number 13, they can order license renewal stickers that will be good now until 2014.  Multi-year renewals also save a little money in the long run.

DMV spokesperson Sunni Brown tells me they have not received any complaints or concerns from customers about the 2013 license plate sticker, so the idea of avoiding the number 13 is simply a marketing gimmick.  I'll never understand marketing.

Still, a lot of people do carry a superstition about the number 13.  Dr. Donald Dossey, founder of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, estimates that more than 17 million people have triskaidekaphobia.

The good news:  I can keep my license plates free of 13.  However, it does nothing for me the next time I'm driving up U.S. Route 13 on the Eastern Shore...on August 13th...at 1:13 in the afternoon.

Trivia:  the fear of the Friday the 13th also has a name...paraskevidekatriaphobia.

Link:
The DMV's press release

DMV Disruptions this Weekend.

If you need something from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles before Tuesday, October 11th, do it today or Friday.  The DMV will be partially offline this weekend.

Due to system maintainence by the Social Security Administration, DMV officials say certain transactions, like applying for a first time driver's license, will be unavailable this Saturday, October 8th.  In addition, the DMV and most other state offices will be closed Monday, October 10th in observance of Columus Day. 

More information is available here.

More Computer Issues for the DMV

More computer issues for the DMV, but it won't be like last year's statewide computer network crash.  Due to IT system maintanence, no driver licensing can be processed on Saturday, March 26th at any DMV location.  By the way, the outage will be nationwide.  Thanks for the heads up, DMV.  More information.