Fatal Crashes Only
This report covers fatal crashes only, from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System — the federal census of every crash on a US public road that killed someone within 30 days. It does not include injury or property-damage-only crashes, and its totals are not comparable with the all-severity crash reports published elsewhere on this site.
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YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · VIRGINIA · SEPTEMBER 2023
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/virginia/fatal/statewide/september-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
85 CRASHES IN
VIRGINIA
SEPTEMBER 2023
In September 2023, Virginia experienced 85 fatal crashes, resulting in 90 fatalities. This represents a decrease of 8.6% in fatal crashes and an 11.8% decrease in fatalities compared to September 2022, which saw 93 fatal crashes and 102 fatalities. A notable shift includes a 50% reduction in both hit-and-run and pedestrian-involved fatal crashes.
85
▼ -8.6%was 93
Total Crash Events
90
▼ -11.8%was 102
Persons Killed
61
▲ 5.2%was 58
Persons Injured
2
▼ -50.0%was 4
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (90) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (85) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Fatal crashes in Virginia decreased by 8.6%, from 93 in September 2022 to 85 in September 2023. Concurrently, the number of fatalities decreased by 11.8%, from 102 to 90 over the same period, indicating a downward trend in both metrics.
2
Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2023
▼ -50.0% vs prior (4)
Hit-and-run fatal crashes decreased by 50%, from 4 in September 2022 to 2 in September 2023. The hit-and-run rate also decreased from 4.3% of all fatal crashes in the prior period to 2.4% in the current period.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
5
Pedestrians Killed
84
Motorists Killed
1
Other Killed
1
Pedestrians Injured
60
Motorists Injured
0
Other Injured
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
Friday remained the peak day for fatal crashes in both periods, with 18 fatal crashes in September 2023 and 20 in September 2022. The peak hour for fatal crashes shifted from 8 p.m. with 10 fatal crashes in September 2022 to 4 p.m. with 7 fatal crashes in September 2023.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Road & Environmental Conditions
Fatal crashes occurring in 'Dark - Not Lighted' conditions decreased from 29 in September 2022 to 22 in September 2023. Fatal crashes in 'Daylight' conditions remained relatively stable, with 45 in the prior period and 46 in the current period.
Lighting
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Lighting condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
Ford vehicles were involved in fewer fatal crashes, decreasing from 21 in September 2022 to 14 in September 2023, while Chevrolet involvement slightly increased from 12 to 14. Significant shifts were observed in the age distribution of persons involved in fatal crashes, with a 63.6% increase for those aged 16-20 (from 11 to 18) and a 71.4% increase for those aged 26-34 (from 21 to 36).
Top Vehicle Makes (132 vehicles)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
2 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (173 persons with recorded sex)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Fatal crashes in 35 mph zones decreased by 50%, from 18 in September 2022 to 9 in September 2023. Similarly, fatal crashes in 45 mph zones saw a reduction from 22 to 19. Conversely, fatal crashes in 55 mph zones slightly increased from 28 to 29.
Fatal crashes by zone: 15 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 25 mph: 5 of 5 (100%) · 35 mph: 9 of 9 (100%) · 40 mph: 7 of 7 (100%) · 45 mph: 19 of 19 (100%) · 50 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 55 mph: 29 of 29 (100%) · 60 mph: 6 of 6 (100%) · 65 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 70 mph: 5 of 5 (100%)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Posted speed limit at crash location
Manner of Collision
The dominant manner of collision in both periods was 'The First Harmful Event was Not a Collision with a Motor Vehicle in Transport', accounting for 55 fatal crashes (64.7%) in September 2023, a slight decrease from 59 (63.4%) in September 2022. Angle collisions decreased from 16 to 13 fatal crashes, while Front-to-Front collisions increased from 8 to 11 fatal crashes.
Manner of Collision
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Vehicle Type
Four-door sedans remained the most common vehicle body type involved in fatal crashes, increasing from 29 in September 2022 to 34 in September 2023. Two-wheel motorcycles saw a notable increase in involvement, from 13 to 18 fatal crashes. Light Pickups decreased from 19 to 17, and Compact Utility vehicles remained stable at 19.
Vehicle Type
Showing top 9 of 19 reported. 10 additional (17 total) not shown: Medium/heavy Pickup (GVWR greater than 10,000 lbs.), 5-door/4-door hatchback, 2-door sedan,hardtop,coupe, Single-unit straight truck or Cab-Chassis (GVWR greater than 26,000 lbs.), Single-unit straight truck or Cab-Chassis (GVWR range 10,001 to 19,500 lbs.), Sedan/Hardtop, number of doors unknown, Three-wheel Motorcycle (2 Rear Wheels), Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle, 3-door/2-door hatchback, Utility station wagon (includes suburban limousines, Suburban, Travellall, Grand Wagoneer).
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
Rural vs Urban
Rural areas continued to account for a higher number of fatal crashes, with 48 in September 2023 compared to 35 in urban areas. This represents a decrease from the prior period, which saw 53 rural and 40 urban fatal crashes.
Rural vs Urban
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Roadway Functional Class
Major Collector roadways saw a significant increase in fatal crashes, rising from 14 in September 2022 to 24 in September 2023. Conversely, Minor Arterial roadways experienced a decrease from 26 to 15 fatal crashes. Fatal crashes on Interstate roadways remained relatively stable, decreasing from 12 to 11.
Roadway Functional Class
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Roadway Ownership
State Highway Agencies continued to oversee the majority of fatal crashes, with 65 in September 2023, down from 80 in September 2022. Fatal crashes on roads owned by City or Municipal Highway Agencies increased from 12 to 16.
Roadway Ownership
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Person Type
Drivers remained the dominant person type involved in fatal crashes, though their count decreased from 137 to 132. There was a significant decrease in pedestrian involvement, from 12 to 6 persons, and no bicyclists were involved in fatal crashes in September 2023 compared to 3 in September 2022.
Person Type
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Person Injury Severity
The number of fatalities (K) decreased from 102 in September 2022 to 90 in September 2023. However, serious injuries (A) increased from 19 to 29 over the same period. The total number of injured persons (A, B, C) slightly increased from 56 to 59.
Person Injury Severity
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Occupant Safety Equipment
The number of persons reported using 'Shoulder and Lap Belt Used' decreased from 96 in September 2022 to 89 in September 2023. Similarly, the count of persons with 'None Used/Not Applicable' decreased from 79 to 74.
Occupant Safety Equipment
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Point of Impact
The '12 Clock Point' (front center) remained the most common point of impact, with 73 occurrences in September 2023, a slight decrease from 74 in September 2022. Impacts at the '1 Clock Point' decreased from 13 to 8, while impacts at the '11 Clock Point' remained stable at 9.
Point of Impact
"Other" combines 5 smaller categories (12 records): 9 Clock Point (4), Non-Collision (4), 8 Clock Point (2), 4 Clock Point (1), 7 Clock Point (1).
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
Vehicles Per Crash
Single-vehicle fatal crashes decreased from 55 in September 2022 to 49 in September 2023. Two-vehicle fatal crashes also saw a decrease from 33 to 26. However, multi-vehicle fatal crashes (3 or more vehicles) increased from 5 to 10.
Vehicles Per Crash
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Data Sources & Methodology
Primary Data Source
All crash data in this report is sourced from NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), accessed programmatically via the NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.
Data Retrieval
- Access method: NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SoQL queries)
- Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
- Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
- Date filter applied: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30
- Report generated: August 5, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30 (30 days)
- Geographic scope: Virginia
- Total crash records analyzed: 85
- Total persons involved: 176
- Total vehicles involved: 132
Analytical Methodology
- Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
- Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
- Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
- Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
- Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
- Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
- AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.
Limitations & Disclaimers
- Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
- Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
- Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
- AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
- Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.
Non-Affiliation Disclosure
This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.
Data License
The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.
Corrections & Feedback
If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.
Suggested Citation
ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "Virginia Crash Intelligence Report: September 2023." Published August 5, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30. Data source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), NHTSA FARS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/virginia/fatal/statewide/september-2023-report
About the Publisher
ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.
Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · NHTSA FARS
Period: 2023-09-01 – 2023-09-30
Generated: August 5, 2026 · All rights reserved
Someone you love in this data? We’ll help you find out if you have a case.
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