So far this year, there have been 60 vehicle accidents in Charlotte County, according to a new crash-tracking tool from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

Of the 60, 32 resulted in injury, 28 resulted in property damage, four were alcohol related, 26 were speed related and nine involved persons between ages 15-20.

More accidents have occurred on Kings Highway — 13 — than any other road.

Traffic crash data information has been made more accessible for those interested in gaining a better understanding of crashes occurring in their localities due in part to a new interactive crash locations map, according to a DMV press release.

According to DMV spokeswoman Brandy Brubaker, the map’s information is dependent on law enforcement agencies from across the state.

“We get our information from law enforcement departments all over the state. So when we get the report from, them it’s entered into our system,” Brubaker said. “…Sometimes there’s a lag behind for some of the reports though because maybe an officer is still investigating or hasn’t come back on duty to complete the report and that, in that case, we like to say that 2017 statistics are preliminary until we close out the year.“

Brubaker said the DMV has given the public access to the Traffic Records Electronic Data System (TREDS) since Aug. 2011.

“DMV is Virginia’s repository for Virginia crash reports and I don’t think a lot of people realize that,” Brubaker said. “Like I said, all the departments from the state send their crash reports to us. We have all this data available, so we’re like, you know, how’s it going to help anybody if it’s not shared with the public?”

She said that Virginia is a part of the Toward Zero Deaths movement, which is a national campaign to continually reduce crash deaths until they no longer occur.

“Education is a huge part of that,” Brubaker said. “Many crashes are completely preventable … Drivers having the education and the awareness of highway safety issues in the area or just in general, wearing seatbelts, not drinking and driving, not speeding, not driving distracted, these things can help reduce crash numbers and safe lives so we wanted to make that information accessible to Virginians.”

She said the map allows Virginians see where crashes are occurring most in their neighborhoods and to filter that down even more to see what factors are causing the crashes.

“So we think that if you get information it might make you think a little bit more when you’re driving,” Brubaker said.

According to the press release, in addition to the Crash Locations Map, DMV also hosts interactive features that allow users to create a Crash Data Report or explore a map of High Crash Locations, called clusters. No personal driver information is published.

The Crash Locations Map can be accessed at: https://www.treds.virginia.gov/Mapping/Map/CrashesByJurisdiction.