In Pulaski County this week, a police dispatcher for the Sheriff’s Department was on her way home from work when she swerved to miss a deer and crashed  The impact of the crash threw her from her Ford Explorer.

A helicopter took her to Carillion Roanoke Memorial Hospital with serious injuries.

The dispatcher, Autumn Duncan, was not wearing a seat belt while driving her SUV on the public road — a clear violation of the law and a surprising omission for someone who works for the Sheriff’s office.

Traffic fatalities in Floyd County this year have involved drivers and passengers in cars who were not wearing seat belts when they crashed.

Why not?  A state trooper told me recently that hardly a day goes by when he does not observe someone driving on public roads and not wearing a seat belt.  Failure to belt in, unfortunately, is considered a “secondary” traffic offense under Virginia law so a cop needs another reason to stop those who flaunt the law and take their lives so cavalierly.

We will check later to see if the Virginia State Police or Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department tickets one of their own for driving without a seat belt.