By Bob Vlach
Woodford Sun Staff
During the first nine months of this year, eight people have been killed in motor vehicle collisions in Woodford County, according to traffic data provided by the Versailles Police Department (VPD).
The number of fatalities this year has already surpassed year-end totals in 2024 and 2025. Six people died in motor vehicle collisions in each of those years, VPD data shows.
VPD traffic data also shows police officers are issuing more traffic citations (3,131 citations so far this year and 3,546 last year compared to 2,130 in 2024 and 1,985 in 2023).
VPD Chief Rob Young said those numbers tell him traffic enforcement is not “the end-all cure” for making roadways safer. So while stepping up enforcement is a part of making roadways safer, he said, “That doesn’t always translate into a reduction of roadway fatalities…”
Young cited driving behaviors as a significant contributing factor in traffic collisions, including fatality crashes on I-64, Watts Ferry Road and Troy Pike over a recent 10-day stretch.
Impaired and distracted driving and speeding, coupled with narrow roads lined by large trees and fences with significant drop-offs, create dangerous situations for motorists, he said.
Motorists need to be more aware of those dangers while also changing their driving behaviors and adhering to the speed limit, according to Young. “All those things would make our roadways much safer,” he said.
Until driving behaviors change and motorists become more aware of the dangers of driving on narrow roadways with no shoulders, “Sadly, we’re going to have the violent collisions that we have,” Young said.
The highest number of fatalities on roadways in Woodford County occurred in 2020 when 15 people died in collisions, according to VPD data. The data also shows 3,195 citations were issued that year.
The total number of collisions in Woodford County grew to over 900 in 2023, 2024 and 2025 after falling to 796 in 2020 and then climbing to 858 in 2021, according to VPD data. The number of injury collisions climbed to over 100 in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 after falling to 84 in 2021.
So far in 2026, the total number of collisions is 692 through Sept. 30, with 98 of the collisions involving injury and eight involving a fatality, the data shows.
VPD continues to assign two officers to a traffic enforcement unit, but given the high volume of non-traffic-related calls to service, they are sometimes pulled to higher priority calls, Young said.
“We have always tried to focus our traffic enforcement efforts on roadways (where) there are more collisions, where the speeds are greater, the number of injury accidents, and certainly fatalities are the greatest,” said Young, which he described as the “best use of our limited resources.”
Giving motorists a warning rather than a citation during a traffic stop is an opportunity to address a driving behavior that could result in a collision if that bad behavior does not change, according to Young.
“The speed limits are there for everyone’s safety,” he said. “And the road conditions are what dictate those speed limits; and some people just disregard the speed limits.
“… People drive too fast when it’s raining. They drive too fast on winding, narrow roads that are lined by hazards such as trees and fences.”
The dangers on Woodford County’s roads were driven home when VPD Officer Scott Bobbitt was struck by a vehicle and injured on Sept. 29 while directing traffic in front of Southside Elementary School. “So the fact that someone couldn’t even behave in a school zone really reflects some of the poor driving that’s going on out there,” said Young.
He said officers have seen “a heightened sense of awareness” from motorists of them directing traffic in school zones since Bobbitt was struck by a vehicle. “I just hope that continues … and people don’t forget what happened because somebody wasn’t paying attention,” he said.
Young said he was hopeful that Bobbitt will return to duty this week. No charges have been filed in this case, which is still being investigated by VPD.