Charlottesville and ALbemarle Population Growth

Charlottesville And Albemarle County Experience Population Growth
It’s official. Both Charlottesville and Albemarle County experienced significant population growth between 2000 and 2010. Albemarle County now has over 100,000 people and Charlottesville has around 44,000 people. Unfortunately, the city and county roads have not been improved to keep pace with this population growth. Route 29 is perpetually backed up and is the site of many car accidents. AS an experienced personal injury lawyer, I have worked with accident investigation experts who analyze how road conditions affect accident rates. Our local roads are a factor in car accidents and our law firm has handled many personal injury cases involving crowded roads. In particular, crowded roads seem to lead to an increased number of accidents involving the running of red lights. An article in the Charlottesville Daily Progress recently discussed the use of red light cameras at a busy intersection on Route 29. Revenue of over $90,000 was generated by the cameras. And, accidents fell from 3 to 1 in a year. Is the drop attributable to the installation of the cameras. I think it is difficult to draw any conclusions based on the limited data. If accident rates stay lower after 3 or more years of camera operation, I would be willing to accept the conclusion. However, at this point, it seems more like wishful thinking. After all, all the traffic tickets that went out were sent for a reason, someone running the red light. So at this point, I think a drop from 3 to 1 is more the result of luck than drivers’ knowledge of cameras at the intersection.


Francis P. Hajek Wilson & Hajek, LLC, a personal injury law firm Experienced Injury and Accident Lawyers Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro