Twelve people were killed on Virginia highways during Christmas weekend, according to Virginia State Police.

The deaths occurred between 6 p.m. on Dec. 23 and midnight on Dec. 26. Of the deaths, 11 occurred on the highway. One pedestrian — an 8-year old boy in Fairfax County — was killed.

The 12 deaths equal the total number of deaths during the same period last year, Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.

Of the 11 people who died in cars on Virginia roads, one death was alcohol-related. Six of the deaths occurred because the driver or passenger of a vehicles was not wearing a safety beat.

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“It is encouraging,” Geller said. “We are one of several states in which fatal traffic crashes due to alcohol are on the decline.”

Drivers should proceed carefully over the New Year’s weekend, said Geller, noting state police will be on the lookout for drunken drivers.

It’s been two years since the city experienced an alcohol-related road fatality, Alexandria police spokeswoman Amy Bertsch said. Alexandria police made five arrests for drunken driving during Christmas weekend and will be patrolling the city’s streets as New Year’s Day draws closer to prevent drunken driving.

Tallies for the number of Christmas weekend traffic fatalities in Maryland are not yet available, State Highway Administration officials told The Examiner Friday.

But in counties across Maryland, efforts to stop intoxicated motorists will be increased for New Year’s.

This weekend will mark the end of a nearly two-month, Maryland-wide effort to combat drunken driving, Montgomery County Police spokesman Eric Burnett told The Examiner. The department has worked with a host of other law enforcement agencies across the region to increase the number of officers on the streets stopping suspect drivers.

On some weekends, patrol units have set up sobriety checkpoints. But this weekend, that will not be the case, Lt. Burnett said.

“It won’t be cops in every corner of the county, but they’ll be patrolling throughout the county,” he said. “There are certain days when we see a larger number of drunk drivers, and New Year’s is one of those days.”

Drunken Driving by the numbers

Since mid-November, the efforts of Montgomery County’s Impaired Driving Task Force have resulted in:

» 243 DUI arrests

» 13 Alcohol Restrictions

» 120 Total Alcohol Citations

» 1711 total traffic citations

» 1134 warnings

dfrancis@dcexaminer.com

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com